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The differences between directors, applications and chief information officers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-8 years to become a director, applications, becoming a chief information officer takes usually requires More than 10 years. Additionally, a director, applications has an average salary of $155,871, which is higher than the $146,907 average annual salary of a chief information officer.
The top three skills for a director, applications include cloud, project management and customer service. The most important skills for a chief information officer are CIO, project management, and network infrastructure.
| Director, Applications | Chief Information Officer | |
| Yearly salary | $155,871 | $146,907 |
| Hourly rate | $74.94 | $70.63 |
| Growth rate | 16% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 75,822 | 124,678 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 47 | 52 |
| Years of experience | 8 | - |
An application director is responsible for designing and reviewing software applications to support business requirements and network solutions. Applications directors strategize efficient techniques in developing systems, assist the design teams, and conduct quality checks to the outputs to ensure its accuracy and adherence to guidelines and project procedures. They review applications request, manage and allocate budget and resources, and determine the timetable of deliverables. An application director must have excellent technical skills to support the team in resolving application discrepancy and analyzing technology standards.
A chief information officer, also known as CIO, is responsible for the technological development within the company or organization. Primarily overseeing all information technology-related operations, a chief information officer takes the lead in setting the department's budget, developing strategies that will improve computer systems, and implementing policies to attain significant growth in profit and client base. Furthermore, a chief information officer is in charge of managing the workforce behind computer systems, ensuring their efficiency in accomplishing tasks and projects.
Directors, applications and chief information officers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Director, Applications | Chief Information Officer | |
| Average salary | $155,871 | $146,907 |
| Salary range | Between $120,000 And $200,000 | Between $98,000 And $219,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Okta | Mayer Brown |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Agriculture |
There are a few differences between a director, applications and a chief information officer in terms of educational background:
| Director, Applications | Chief Information Officer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Carnegie Mellon University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between directors, applications' and chief information officers' demographics:
| Director, Applications | Chief Information Officer | |
| Average age | 47 | 52 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 77.6% Female, 22.4% | Male, 81.4% Female, 18.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.7% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 10.0% Asian, 12.7% White, 65.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 3.7% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 7.5% Asian, 7.4% White, 76.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 12% |