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Director vs operations director

The differences between directors and operations directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a director and an operations director. Additionally, a director has an average salary of $113,489, which is higher than the $104,050 average annual salary of an operations director.

The top three skills for a director include healthcare, customer service and oversight. The most important skills for an operations director are customer service, continuous improvement, and oversight.

Director vs operations director overview

DirectorOperations Director
Yearly salary$113,489$104,050
Hourly rate$54.56$50.02
Growth rate8%6%
Number of jobs230,711114,993
Job satisfaction5-
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 64%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Average age4044
Years of experience66

What does a director do?

Directors work in show business, whether in a film, a television show, or a theatre production. They are responsible for bringing the material to life. They work with the writers to get a clear vision of how the production should look. They lead the production team in planning for the production, identifying filming or rehearsing schedules, casting for roles, and other aspects that need to be decided upon. Directors provide direction to the actors to ensure that the actors understand their role and will be able to effectively convey emotions to the audience. They also manage all other crew members and communicate their expectations clearly so that everyone on the set is working towards one vision.

What does an operations director do?

Operations directors oversee all company operations. They have the power to set the direction, change the course of the organization, and reform strategies to ensure efficiency in how the company operates. Operations directors manage business operations effectively by constantly analyzing company data and by anticipating any challenge that may come their way. As such, they make sound business decisions and recommendations that will help strengthen the organization. Operations directors oversee finances, quality control, and even human resources. They ensure that all aspects of the business are considered in making business operations decisions.

Director vs operations director salary

Directors and operations directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

DirectorOperations Director
Average salary$113,489$104,050
Salary rangeBetween $66,000 And $192,000Between $65,000 And $164,000
Highest paying CityNew York, NYSan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateNew YorkCalifornia
Best paying companyMayo ClinicAirbnb
Best paying industryFinanceFinance

Differences between director and operations director education

There are a few differences between a director and an operations director in terms of educational background:

DirectorOperations Director
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 64%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeStanford UniversityUniversity of Pennsylvania

Director vs operations director demographics

Here are the differences between directors' and operations directors' demographics:

DirectorOperations Director
Average age4044
Gender ratioMale, 53.2% Female, 46.8%Male, 70.6% Female, 29.4%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 6.4% White, 65.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 6.1% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.9% Asian, 6.3% White, 67.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage14%10%

Differences between director and operations director duties and responsibilities

Director example responsibilities.

  • Manage water metering programs for NYC and national portfolio.
  • Collaborate with the CPA to manage financials and reporting / distribution to physicians.
  • Manage OEM manufacturing partners for making bulk solutions, product fills and final packaging.
  • Lead company's first deep-fill structural project, bring company into EPA compliance, establish effective QA-QC program.
  • Develop company website entirely as well as wrote and manage the SEO and upkeep for overall site maintenance.
  • Manage the company's hotel portfolio operations and assets, including renovation, new build, conversions, and rebranding.
  • Show more

Operations director example responsibilities.

  • Manage KPI reports from all warranty companies to ensure increasing sales and productivity.
  • Spearhead governance, security and compliance initiatives to achieve SOX and PCI compliance.
  • Manage a PMO style team to implement any changes across the global contact centers.
  • Develop all marketing strategies and materials as well as personally managing key OEM and national accounts.
  • Manage multiple vendor relationships for RFP development and review, contract negotiation, contract terms management, and accounts payable review.
  • Provide leadership to manufacturing organization by aligning overall KPIs to achieve near term and long term business objectives.
  • Show more

Director vs operations director skills

Common director skills
  • Healthcare, 10%
  • Customer Service, 10%
  • Oversight, 7%
  • Project Management, 6%
  • Human Resources, 4%
  • Business Development, 4%
Common operations director skills
  • Customer Service, 12%
  • Continuous Improvement, 7%
  • Oversight, 7%
  • Patients, 6%
  • Project Management, 5%
  • Human Resources, 4%

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