Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between directors of operations and finance and finance leaders can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a director of operations and finance, becoming a finance leader takes usually requires 6-8 years. Additionally, a director of operations and finance has an average salary of $118,503, which is higher than the $117,284 average annual salary of a finance leader.
The top three skills for a director of operations and finance include oversight, financial operations and payroll. The most important skills for a finance leader are financial analysis, financial management, and business development.
| Director Of Operations And Finance | Finance Leader | |
| Yearly salary | $118,503 | $117,284 |
| Hourly rate | $56.97 | $56.39 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 17% |
| Number of jobs | 186,569 | 93,582 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Average age | 44 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 8 |
A director of operations and finance is in charge of overseeing and spearheading business and financial operations, ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. Their responsibilities revolve around performing research and analysis to identify the best practices to optimize operations, coordinating with different departments to gather data, conducting research and analysis to identify new business and investment opportunities, and monitoring the progress of various projects and programs. Furthermore, as a director, it is essential to lead and encourage the workforce to reach goals, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
The duties of a finance leader depend on one's place or industry of employment. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around monitoring the sales and financial operations in a company, preparing financial reports and statements, finding new sales opportunities, identifying the market and client needs, and maintaining records of all financial transactions. There are also instances where a finance leader may set and allocate budgets, perform audits in costs and expenditures, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
Directors of operations and finance and finance leaders have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Director Of Operations And Finance | Finance Leader | |
| Average salary | $118,503 | $117,284 |
| Salary range | Between $77,000 And $181,000 | Between $78,000 And $174,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Mateo, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | Oregon |
| Best paying company | Pure Storage | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Automotive | Finance |
There are a few differences between a director of operations and finance and a finance leader in terms of educational background:
| Director Of Operations And Finance | Finance Leader | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Most common major | Business | Accounting |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between directors of operations and finance' and finance leaders' demographics:
| Director Of Operations And Finance | Finance Leader | |
| Average age | 44 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 61.7% Female, 38.3% | Male, 60.0% Female, 40.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.4% Asian, 6.4% White, 67.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 7.5% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 14.2% Asian, 10.0% White, 63.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 11% |