What does a director of operations and finance do?
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.
Director of operations and finance responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real director of operations and finance resumes:
- Achieve record revenue and EBITDA by Q3.
- Guide the company to utilize ERP to manage the business versus spreadsheets.
- Oversee SOX and financial controls, managing SOX compliance and reviewing and refining the existing processes.
- Achieve Medicare certification and JCAHO accreditation without any deficiencies.
- Manage financial and operational functions of SaaS and hosting provider for deregulate energy markets.
- Lead firm through a significant build in talent while simultaneously introducing numerous improvements to the process of financial management and oversight.
- Implement SOX 404 walk through procedures throughout region.
- Preserve integral Medicare beneficiary status.
- Consolidate accounting and treasury functions into Winston-Salem corporate accounting center.
- Monitor and track personnel and payroll data to provide relevant management information.
- Reduce treasury service and overall banking costs and champion replacement of antiquate accounting system.
- Improve efficiency by eliminating unnecessary reporting and implementing new streamline controls and reporting for AP/AR and payroll.
- Design and implement oversight tools that enable departments to reconcile charge processing to schedules and monitor daily productivity.
- Create market-sizing and operational plan that expand business to include PBM contracting and Medicaid MCO business model development.
- Introduce and implement ISO 9001:2002 and ISO 14001.
Director of operations and finance skills and personality traits
We calculated that 6% of Directors Of Operations And Finance are proficient in Oversight, Financial Operations, and Payroll. They’re also known for soft skills such as Leadership skills, Management skills, and Problem-solving skills.
We break down the percentage of Directors Of Operations And Finance that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Oversight, 6%
Led firm through a significant build in talent while simultaneously introducing numerous improvements to the process of financial management and oversight.
- Financial Operations, 6%
Maintain open communication with Financial Operations to ensure smooth regional financial operations and timely identification and resolution of matters of concern.
- Payroll, 5%
Planned and executed integration of acquired AP, Payroll and Procurement operations as a result of several acquisitions.
- Human Resources, 4%
Directed project to build more robust/interactive database to improve operational processes and increase productivity in human resources and finance department.
- CPA, 4%
Managed internal accounting control and oversee quarterly CPA audits to maintain accounting integrity.
- Financial Management, 4%
Developed and maintained all financial and accounting policies and procedures to ensure efficient financial management, reporting, and visibility.
Common skills that a director of operations and finance uses to do their job include "oversight," "financial operations," and "payroll." You can find details on the most important director of operations and finance responsibilities below.
Leadership skills. One of the key soft skills for a director of operations and finance to have is leadership skills. You can see how this relates to what directors of operations and finance do because "top executives must be able to shape and direct an organization by coordinating policies, people, and resources." Additionally, a director of operations and finance resume shows how directors of operations and finance use leadership skills: "provided financial and strategic leadership to business leadership team in financial due diligence and its execution. "
Problem-solving skills. This is an important skill for directors of operations and finance to perform their duties. For an example of how director of operations and finance responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "top executives need to identify and resolve issues within an organization." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a director of operations and finance: "key member of due diligence team that evaluated, and implemented adaptive planning solution. ".
Time-management skills. For certain director of operations and finance responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "time-management skills." The day-to-day duties of a director of operations and finance rely on this skill, as "top executives do many tasks concurrently to ensure that their work gets done and that the organization meets its goals." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what directors of operations and finance do: "implemented jd edwards erp system for manufacturing accounting, engineering, and order administration groups (eight week implementation time). "
Communication skills. Another common skill required for director of operations and finance responsibilities is "communication skills." This skill comes up in the duties of directors of operations and finance all the time, as "top executives must be able to convey information clearly and persuasively." An excerpt from a real director of operations and finance resume shows how this skill is central to what a director of operations and finance does: "conceived and initiated new management operational systems to improve budgetary financial management, performance measurements and communication. "
The three companies that hire the most director of operations and finances are:
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Compare different directors of operations and finance
Director of operations and finance vs. Finance vice president
The vice president of finance is one of the highest-ranking executives in a company. He/She or she works under the chief financial officer, and both have similar duties that are often interchangeable. This executive's primary function is to oversee the company's financial records and project future financial plans and investments. The finance vice president ensures that the company's finances are managed suitably and effectively. This role's responsibilities include leading the team towards achieving the company's financial mission, monitoring the financial performance, preparing and presenting financial reports, and conducting audits on financial expenditures, assets, and liabilities.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, director of operations and finance responsibilities require skills like "project management," "reconciliations," "shared services," and "business processes." Meanwhile a typical finance vice president has skills in areas such as "treasury," "rehabilitation," "securities," and "strong analytical." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Finance vice presidents tend to make the most money working in the manufacturing industry, where they earn an average salary of $149,254. In contrast, directors of operations and finance make the biggest average salary, $126,734, in the automotive industry.On average, finance vice presidents reach similar levels of education than directors of operations and finance. Finance vice presidents are 2.6% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Director of operations and finance vs. Finance manager
A finance manager is responsible for monitoring the financial system of a company. Their tasks include handling their organization's financial status, generating cost estimates and budget goals, identifying business opportunities to increase revenues and profitability, improving financial strategies, reducing costs, analyzing account statements, processing invoice as needed, analyzing market trends, searching potential partnerships, and presenting reports. A finance manager must have excellent analytical skills and knowledge of the accounting and financial industry. They are responsible for providing the best recommendations for the organization's growth.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, director of operations and finance responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "oversight," "project management," "business processes," and "lean six sigma." Meanwhile, a finance manager has duties that require skills in areas such as "customer service," "strong analytical," "work ethic," and "strong work ethic." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Finance managers earn a lower average salary than directors of operations and finance. But finance managers earn the highest pay in the finance industry, with an average salary of $118,926. Additionally, directors of operations and finance earn the highest salaries in the automotive with average pay of $126,734 annually.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Finance managers tend to reach lower levels of education than directors of operations and finance. In fact, they're 5.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Director of operations and finance vs. Finance leader
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.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from director of operations and finance resumes include skills like "oversight," "human resources," "cpa," and "project management," whereas a finance leader is more likely to list skills in "strong analytical," "hr," "business process," and "indirect tax. "
Finance leaders earn the best pay in the finance industry, where they command an average salary of $120,889. Directors of operations and finance earn the highest pay from the automotive industry, with an average salary of $126,734.When it comes to education, finance leaders tend to earn similar degree levels compared to directors of operations and finance. In fact, they're 0.1% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Director of operations and finance vs. Business director
Business directors are responsible for overseeing the development of an organization's business goals and objectives. They typically work to increase business revenue, identify and develop business opportunities, and expand the company's presence and its brands. Other duties and responsibilities may include establishing effective company policies, goals, and sales targets, overseeing financial and budgetary activities, and identifying ways to minimize cost and boost financial performance. Business directors are also expected to negotiate contracts with clients and suppliers and propose and develop new partnerships.
Types of director of operations and finance
Updated January 8, 2025
