Director of distribution vs operations director

The differences between directors of distribution 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 of distribution and an operations director. Additionally, a director of distribution has an average salary of $126,210, which is higher than the $104,050 average annual salary of an operations director.

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

Director of distribution vs operations director overview

	Director Of Distribution	Operations Director
Yearly salary	$126,210	$104,050
Hourly rate	$60.68	$50.02
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	21,751	114,993
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 75%	Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Average age	45	44
Years of experience	6	6

What does a director of distribution do?

A distribution director spearheads and oversees an organization's distribution procedures, ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. It is their duty to coordinate with different departments to identify and understand the distribution needs, set goals and guidelines, manage budgets and schedules, delegate tasks among managers, develop strategies to optimize operations, and present reports to the executives and shareholders. They must also liaise with externals parties, building positive relationships with them. Moreover, a distribution director must lead and encourage the workforce to reach goals while monitoring the progress of operations.

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 of distribution vs operations director salary

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

	Director Of Distribution	Operations Director
Average salary	$126,210	$104,050
Salary range	Between $88,000 And $179,000	Between $65,000 And $164,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	New Jersey	California
Best paying company	Meta	Airbnb
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Finance

Differences between director of distribution and operations director education

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

	Director Of Distribution	Operations Director
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 75%	Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Stanford University	University of Pennsylvania

Director of distribution vs operations director demographics

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

	Director Of Distribution	Operations Director
Average age	45	44
Gender ratio	Male, 85.2% Female, 14.8%	Male, 70.6% Female, 29.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.1% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 18.4% Asian, 6.1% White, 59.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	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 Percentage	5%	10%

Differences between director of distribution and operations director duties and responsibilities

Director of distribution example responsibilities.

Manage a staff of 80 in many healthcare locations.
Lead the development of operational and transportation KPIs to cover cost, quality and service.
Manage logistics operations issues that include branch logistics plan implementation, warehouse and delivery personnel management, inventory management and security/safety/housekeeping.
Enhance and publish procedures for FDA product recall requirements.
Improve communications with foreign vendors to reduce and improve upon FDA holds.
Orchestrate selection, acquisition and implementation of agile ERP and WMS technologies.

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.

Director of distribution vs operations director skills

Common director of distribution skills

Continuous Improvement, 9%
Project Management, 7%
Distribution Operations, 6%
Distribution Centers, 5%
Direct Reports, 4%
Process Improvement, 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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Director Of Distribution
Director Of Distribution vs Operations Director

Updated January 8, 2025

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