Director of project management vs manager, project management

The differences between directors of project management and managers, project management can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a director of project management has an average salary of $126,958, which is higher than the $102,925 average annual salary of a manager, project management.

The top three skills for a director of project management include oversight, risk management and resource management. The most important skills for a manager, project management are project management, risk management, and portfolio.

Director of project management vs manager, project management overview

	Director Of Project Management	Manager, Project Management
Yearly salary	$126,958	$102,925
Hourly rate	$61.04	$49.48
Growth rate	16%	16%
Number of jobs	200,498	263,655
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	-	-

What does a director of project management do?

Project management directors are the ones who develop and direct the strategic planning of different projects. The directors oversee the coordination of resources and personnel necessary for project completion. Typically, the directors require certification for project management. They develop a methodology for standardized project management in a balanced matrix organization. The directors should be equipped with skills in process improvement, customer service, infrastructure, portfolio management, and strategic initiatives. They should also have skills in communication, attention to detail, and leadership.

What does a manager, project management do?

The role of a project management manager involves the planning, execution, monitoring, control, and closure of projects. Project managers oversee the scope of the entire project, the team, success or failure, and its resources. They facilitate productivity and commitment, remove obstacles, and motivate their team members. Their skills should include leadership, critical thinking, communication, negotiating, and risk management. They should also know about cost management, scheduling, and task management.

Director of project management vs manager, project management salary

Directors of project management and managers, project management have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Director Of Project Management	Manager, Project Management
Average salary	$126,958	$102,925
Salary range	Between $85,000 And $187,000	Between $73,000 And $144,000
Highest paying City	Foster City, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Meta	Ropes & Gray
Best paying industry	Real Estate	Pharmaceutical

Differences between director of project management and manager, project management education

There are a few differences between a director of project management and a manager, project management in terms of educational background:

	Director Of Project Management	Manager, Project Management
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Director of project management vs manager, project management demographics

Here are the differences between directors of project management' and managers, project management' demographics:

	Director Of Project Management	Manager, Project Management
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 66.9% Female, 33.1%	Male, 61.9% Female, 38.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.5% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.5% Asian, 8.8% White, 65.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 7.6% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 9.0% White, 65.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	10%	10%

Differences between director of project management and manager, project management duties and responsibilities

Director of project management example responsibilities.

Develop and manage RFP processes to procure third party products and services.
Manage & facilitate agile scrum masters, project managers and business analysts including providing direction, guidance and training.
Develop and lead divisional IP application strategy and review process to improve patent return on investment and alignment with product strategies.
Direct logistics and manufacturing process at Baltimore depot and revamp of product line to achieve desire mission-readiness capability.
Streamline and centralize usage of project management tools to manage dependencies and transparent delivery milestones for highly complex SaaS platforms
Lead scrum team through multiple development sprints for overall product improvement base on customer feedback and market research.

Manager, project management example responsibilities.

Manage budgets and resources of various project groups to successfully implement ERP & CRM application.
Counsele application team leads in maximizing available migration windows for defect resolution.
Facilitate efforts on prioritizing bugs find during QA testing and manage remediation efforts.
Manage and monitor compliance with FDA validate system requirements, documentation creation and SDLC methodologies.
Manage services portfolio releases and delivery enablement process for major cloud and big data professional services offerings.
Lead digital initiative developments that integrate with current infrastructure, delivering timely market penetration to enhance organizational competitiveness.

Director of project management vs manager, project management skills

Common director of project management skills

Oversight, 9%
Risk Management, 6%
Resource Management, 5%
Business Objectives, 5%
Healthcare, 5%
Customer Satisfaction, 5%

Common manager, project management skills

Project Management, 20%
Risk Management, 7%
Portfolio, 5%
Customer Service, 3%
Process Improvement, 3%
On-Time Delivery, 3%

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Director Of Project Management
Director Of Project Management vs Manager, Project Management

Updated January 8, 2025

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