Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between director/operations managers and operations support managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a director/operations manager and an operations support manager. Additionally, a director/operations manager has an average salary of $108,519, which is higher than the $79,730 average annual salary of an operations support manager.
The top three skills for a director/operations manager include customer service, financial statements and payroll. The most important skills for an operations support manager are customer service, project management, and human resources.
| Director/Operations Manager | Operations Support Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $108,519 | $79,730 |
| Hourly rate | $52.17 | $38.33 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 242,743 | 376,894 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A director/operations manager spearheads and oversees the operations of an organization. They primarily set goals and guidelines, establish roadmaps and timelines, participate in recruitment procedures, and implement policies and regulations, developing new ones as necessary. They monitor operations, pointing out issues and concerns should there be any. They also have the responsibility to make decisions, negotiate and finalize deals with external parties, and build strong relationships with business partners. Moreover, a director/operations manager encourages and leads employees towards the organization's short and long-term goals while promoting industry and company standards.
Operations Support Managers are employees who handle different support initiatives for the employees or operations-related departments. These support initiatives may come in people management and upskilling, IT infrastructure assistance, or process improvement, among others. Operations Support Managers must have a deep understanding of company operations and the employees' needs. They manage processes and standards to ensure that company operations are fully supported and will not be disrupted. They resolve concerns and anticipate problems that may come. They can plan and create safeguards to ensure that such problems will not arise in the future.
Director/operations managers and operations support managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Director/Operations Manager | Operations Support Manager | |
| Average salary | $108,519 | $79,730 |
| Salary range | Between $73,000 And $161,000 | Between $47,000 And $133,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Bruno, CA |
| Highest paying state | Rhode Island | California |
| Best paying company | Novartis | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Technology |
There are a few differences between a director/operations manager and an operations support manager in terms of educational background:
| Director/Operations Manager | Operations Support Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between director/operations managers' and operations support managers' demographics:
| Director/Operations Manager | Operations Support Manager | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 70.4% Female, 29.6% | Male, 64.8% Female, 35.2% |
| 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, 6.2% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.1% Asian, 6.4% White, 67.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 10% |