Director of product development vs development manager

The differences between directors of product development and development managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 8-10 years to become both a director of product development and a development manager. Additionally, a director of product development has an average salary of $140,507, which is higher than the $110,678 average annual salary of a development manager.

The top three skills for a director of product development include product development, project management and product management. The most important skills for a development manager are project management, customer service, and patients.

Director of product development vs development manager overview

	Director Of Product Development	Development Manager
Yearly salary	$140,507	$110,678
Hourly rate	$67.55	$53.21
Growth rate	10%	10%
Number of jobs	175,429	111,137
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Average age	39	39
Years of experience	10	10

What does a director of product development do?

A Director of Product Development supervises and implements product development policies, initiatives, and objectives. They conduct market research to determine consumer needs and identify competitors.

What does a development manager do?

A development manager is responsible for assisting existing clients or potential clients of the services they need. A development manager serves as the initial point of contact for the clients to answer their inquiries and concerns before proceeding with a contract. Development managers usually arrange meetings with clients, analyze business opportunities, improve marketing initiatives to attract clients, research the industry's latest trends, create proposals, and assist in training new staff members. A development manager must have excellent communication and leadership skills to handle staff performance and build professional relationships with clients.

Director of product development vs development manager salary

Directors of product development and development managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Director Of Product Development	Development Manager
Average salary	$140,507	$110,678
Salary range	Between $100,000 And $196,000	Between $76,000 And $159,000
Highest paying City	San Mateo, CA	Richmond, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Apple	Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Technology

Differences between director of product development and development manager education

There are a few differences between a director of product development and a development manager in terms of educational background:

	Director Of Product Development	Development Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Georgia	University of Georgia

Director of product development vs development manager demographics

Here are the differences between directors of product development' and development managers' demographics:

	Director Of Product Development	Development Manager
Average age	39	39
Gender ratio	Male, 72.0% Female, 28.0%	Male, 60.5% Female, 39.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	10%	10%

Differences between director of product development and development manager duties and responsibilities

Director of product development example responsibilities.

Organize and manage project meetings between partners, vendors, and associates using both scrum and waterfall methodologies.
Manage long-term care, hospital transition, and Medicaid- Medicare expansion initiatives, that includes model of care design and implementation )
Manage packaging design and nutritional labeling within QA guidelines.
Manage company intellectual portfolio and develop key relationships with vendors and clients including leading global technology companies.
Develop using Java, JSP, J2EE, CSS, DHTML, HTML, Plugins and JavaScript.
Prepare proposals for new projects, including project feasibility, ROI, expenses and costs.

Development manager example responsibilities.

Thank and recognize donors in an appropriate and timely manner and manage and maintain donor database including updating and managing files.
Utilize BizTalk to automate HIPAA standard transactions.
Manage the integration of CTIOS to the CRM application.
Lead design/development of prototyping of new software for relate revenue streams.
Lead the global investment banking development team and corporate SOX application.
Manage and chair product design and development using custom J2EE and MVC framework.

Director of product development vs development manager skills

Common director of product development skills

Product Development, 12%
Project Management, 9%
Product Management, 9%
R, 7%
Product Strategy, 4%
Market Research, 3%

Common development manager skills

Project Management, 7%
Customer Service, 6%
Patients, 6%
Java, 5%
Database, 5%
Professional Development, 4%

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Director Of Product Development
Director Of Product Development vs Development Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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