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Director of software development vs information technology manager

The differences between directors of software development and information technology managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-8 years to become both a director of software development and an information technology manager. Additionally, a director of software development has an average salary of $158,853, which is higher than the $119,589 average annual salary of an information technology manager.

The top three skills for a director of software development include java, software development and cloud. The most important skills for an information technology manager are customer service, project management, and database.

Director of software development vs information technology manager overview

Director Of Software DevelopmentInformation Technology Manager
Yearly salary$158,853$119,589
Hourly rate$76.37$57.49
Growth rate16%16%
Number of jobs136,310108,179
Job satisfaction55
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 72%Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Average age4747
Years of experience88

What does a director of software development do?

A director of software development is primarily in charge of overseeing the workflow and the workforce involved in the entire software development process. Their responsibilities also include creating strategies for optimal performance, coordinating with different teams and departments to identify strengths and weaknesses, implementing training and workshop programs, and liaising with external agencies, including key clients. Furthermore, as a director, it is essential to lead and encourage the team to reach new heights.

What does an information technology manager do?

An information technology manager is responsible for supervising tasks for the company's network and information systems operations. Information technology managers require excellent knowledge of the information systems industry, a strong command of programming languages, and software and hardware application processes. An information technology manager reviews the performance of the IT department staff, ensuring that networks and systems maintain the highest quality and efficiency, and adjusting the specific system updates as needed. Information technology managers monitor the security of the system's database and identify business opportunities to utilize all business systems to improve the company's services.

Director of software development vs information technology manager salary

Directors of software development and information technology managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Director Of Software DevelopmentInformation Technology Manager
Average salary$158,853$119,589
Salary rangeBetween $110,000 And $228,000Between $84,000 And $169,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CARichmond, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaNew Hampshire
Best paying companyeBayMeta
Best paying industryTechnology-

Differences between director of software development and information technology manager education

There are a few differences between a director of software development and an information technology manager in terms of educational background:

Director Of Software DevelopmentInformation Technology Manager
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 72%Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Most common majorComputer ScienceComputer Science
Most common collegeCarnegie Mellon UniversityCarnegie Mellon University

Director of software development vs information technology manager demographics

Here are the differences between directors of software development' and information technology managers' demographics:

Director Of Software DevelopmentInformation Technology Manager
Average age4747
Gender ratioMale, 88.6% Female, 11.4%Male, 84.5% Female, 15.5%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.6% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 9.9% Asian, 15.1% White, 63.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 6.6% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 9.9% Asian, 12.7% White, 65.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage11%11%

Differences between director of software development and information technology manager duties and responsibilities

Director of software development example responsibilities.

  • Manage metadata system deploy to AWS.
  • Manage software communications for EDI and HTML distribution orders.
  • Manage engineering org of 3 teams , 40+ engineers including DevOps, architects and managers.
  • Manage continuous build integration through Jenkins and provide training and maintenance of git, repo and gerrit repositories.
  • Manage consultants, staff and set objectives in accordance with IEEE standards, ISO 9000 and PMI methodology.
  • Manage and mentore software development team in developing efficient coding practices using ColdFusion, MySQL JavaScript, and PHP.
  • Show more

Information technology manager example responsibilities.

  • Manage all systems onboarding & offboarding of all employees, manage all account access on all company systems & equipment setup.
  • Manage NFS mounts from NAS devices and setup auto-mounts for the server farm.
  • Manage applications support for Lawson, Meditech, ChartMaxx and McKesson PACs system.
  • Negotiate and manage the company through several Telecom agreements for voice, data and wireless.
  • Manage production turnovers by conducting performance tests, and reviewing SQL coding standards and methods.
  • Manage 3rd party vendors supporting legacy 3Com, Avaya, Nortel, and Cisco platforms.
  • Show more

Director of software development vs information technology manager skills

Common director of software development skills
  • Java, 19%
  • Software Development, 8%
  • Cloud, 7%
  • Software Engineering, 5%
  • C++, 4%
  • Python, 4%
Common information technology manager skills
  • Customer Service, 12%
  • Project Management, 9%
  • Database, 4%
  • Network Infrastructure, 4%
  • SAN, 3%
  • SQL Server, 3%

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