Director, program and project management vs project management specialist

The differences between directors, program and project management and project management specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a director, program and project management has an average salary of $127,842, which is higher than the $81,204 average annual salary of a project management specialist.

The top three skills for a director, program and project management include project management, azure and risk management. The most important skills for a project management specialist are PMP, powerpoint, and status reports.

Director, program and project management vs project management specialist overview

	Director, Program And Project Management	Project Management Specialist
Yearly salary	$127,842	$81,204
Hourly rate	$61.46	$39.04
Growth rate	16%	11%
Number of jobs	233,335	145,872
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Average age	47	44
Years of experience	-	4

What does a director, program and project management do?

A director of program and project management spearheads and oversees a company's projects and programs, ensuring quality and efficiency. They are in charge of setting goals and guidelines, organizing budgets and timelines, coordinating managers, streamlining roadmaps, and developing strategies to optimize operations. They may also liaise with key clients and external parties such as vendors and suppliers, research new business opportunities, and identify areas needing improvement in existing projects and programs, implementing solutions as necessary. Moreover, as a director, it is essential to monitor the workflow and the progress of the workforce while enforcing the company's regulations and policies.

What does a project management specialist do?

A project management specialist is an individual who manages an entire project and serves as a point of contact for a client or customer. Project management specialists must provide detailed cost analysis and timetable reports to keep projects on schedule and budget. They must ask for frequent updates from all staff assigned so that they can identify potential problems that may keep projects from being completed on time. Project management specialists must also prepare progress reports of projects and create presentations for senior management.

Director, program and project management vs project management specialist salary

Directors, program and project management and project management specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Director, Program And Project Management	Project Management Specialist
Average salary	$127,842	$81,204
Salary range	Between $84,000 And $193,000	Between $58,000 And $112,000
Highest paying City	-	Bridgewater, NJ
Highest paying state	-	New Jersey
Best paying company	-	Enbridge
Best paying industry	-	Finance

Differences between director, program and project management and project management specialist education

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

	Director, Program And Project Management	Project Management Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	Stanford University

Director, program and project management vs project management specialist demographics

Here are the differences between directors, program and project management' and project management specialists' demographics:

	Director, Program And Project Management	Project Management Specialist
Average age	47	44
Gender ratio	Male, 69.5% Female, 30.5%	Male, 52.4% Female, 47.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.7% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.9% Asian, 9.0% White, 65.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 8.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 8.9% Asian, 11.8% White, 66.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	10%	12%

Differences between director, program and project management and project management specialist duties and responsibilities

Director, program and project management example responsibilities.

Manage legacy PeopleSoft enterprise resource planning (ERP) transition to new platform.
Develop full SDLC project plans, schedules, project estimates, and manage project budgets and schedules.
Manage and maintain all documentation utilizing SharePoint.
Manage PMO staff activities to ensure operational consistency.
Manage, monitors and measures project portfolio status, recommending corrective action as necessary and communicate portfolio status to their management.
Collaborate with enterprise team in RFP creation and review with resource and product vendors.

Project management specialist example responsibilities.

Plan and manage all development and production activities for the company s new cardiac rhythmic management (CRM) extrusion line.
Manage user authorization in SharePoint.
Manage change management activation and stabilization activities for ERP project within all sites.
Manage a team responsible for designing service-orient application architecture, standards and best practices guidelines, security and data access frameworks.
Update, create stories, and modify VDS tasks in JIRA.
Facilitate project meetings, including setting the agenda, meeting logistics and documentation of meetings.

Director, program and project management vs project management specialist skills

Common director, program and project management skills

Project Management, 16%
Azure, 11%
Risk Management, 11%
Customer Satisfaction, 10%
Cloud, 9%
PMI, 9%

Common project management specialist skills

PMP, 9%
PowerPoint, 7%
Status Reports, 7%
Program Management, 6%
Customer Service, 6%
Project Management Tools, 5%

Director, Program And Project Management vs. similar jobs

Director, Program And Project Management related careers

Director, Program And Project Management related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Executive Management Industry
Director, Program And Project Management
Director, Program And Project Management vs Project Management Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse executive management jobs