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What does a director program management do?

Updated January 8, 2025
8 min read
What does a director program management do

The duties of a director of program management depend on one's industry of employment. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around overseeing the operations in particular areas, ensuring efficiency and productivity that will translate to sales. They are also responsible for devising strategies to optimize existing programs, spearheading new projects, setting goals and budget, resolving issues and concerns, and evaluating workforce performance. Furthermore, as a director, it is essential to lead and encourage the workforce, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.

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Director program management responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real director program management resumes:

  • Achieve ISO [] and ISO [] certification within 12 and 6 months, respectively, from scratch.
  • Manage a team of designers, developers and QA engineers.
  • Monitor and manage vendor performances to ensure contractual SLA's are met.
  • Set measurable objectives for team and individual reports, providing guidance to achieve KPIs.
  • Make sure that the OS achieve or exceed feature parity with native Linux interfaces.
  • Manage overhead systems projects for various OEM's on a variety of vehicle platforms.
  • Provide oversight of methodology, tools, governance process, and execution and delivery of large-scale software development projects.
  • Cultivate culture of best practices founded on solutions for desktop, cloud, and mobile.
  • Lead the team responsible for engineering and support team engagement for top issues for cloud products improvements.
  • Manage Kaz's global patent portfolio, assess technical feasibility and market potential of new products and technologies.
  • Work closely with internal OS development teams to streamline updates of online and hardware drivers for end consumers.
  • Develop opportunity tracking tool utilizing corporate SharePoint resources.
  • Lead engineering security sections and upgrade to architecture sections.
  • Report incremental benefits across the portfolio of hosted/SaaS product services.
  • Coordinate communication and collaboration between offshore vendors and onsite team.

Director program management skills and personality traits

We calculated that 16% of Directors Program Management are proficient in Program Management, Project Management, and Cloud. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Business skills, and Communication skills.

We break down the percentage of Directors Program Management that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Program Management, 16%

    Supported new product development and sustaining engineering, as well as performed Program Management function, which included heavy customer interface.

  • Project Management, 9%

    Replaced aging legacy insurance claims processing systems with new sustainable technology, including development of formal Project Management Office and processes.

  • Cloud, 5%

    Provide Professional Consulting Services for cloud computing, wireless networking, infrastructure and information architecture.

  • Customer Satisfaction, 5%

    Defined requirements, hired, and developed Project Managers for growing company which allowed greater project capacity and increased customer satisfaction.

  • Product Management, 4%

    Developed and currently manage Customer Service Department and support Product Management & Development departments as needed to develop current product lines.

  • Lifecycle Management, 4%

    Implemented product lifecycle management concepts to increase overall efficiency of product portfolio management.

Common skills that a director program management uses to do their job include "program management," "project management," and "cloud." You can find details on the most important director program management responsibilities below.

Analytical skills. One of the key soft skills for a director program management to have is analytical skills. You can see how this relates to what directors program management do because "it managers must analyze problems and consider and select the best ways to solve them." Additionally, a director program management resume shows how directors program management use analytical skills: "provided program management for colorado state hcpf data warehouse implementation. "

Business skills. Another essential skill to perform director program management duties is business skills. Directors program management responsibilities require that "it managers must develop and implement strategic plans to reach the goals of their organizations." Directors program management also use business skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "managed organization of 20 professionals responsible for new business development and capture, contract negotiation and pricing, and program management. "

Communication skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of directors program management is communication skills. This skill is critical to many everyday director program management duties, as "it managers must explain their work to top executives and give clear instructions to their subordinates." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "identified program management deviations from contract, presented identified opportunities to worldwide teams and quantified financial impact for executive communication. "

Leadership skills. For certain director program management responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "leadership skills." The day-to-day duties of a director program management rely on this skill, as "it managers must lead and motivate it teams or departments so that workers are efficient and effective." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what directors program management do: "provided leadership and strategic direction in support of the global clinical science and clinical program management organizations. "

Organizational skills. A commonly-found skill in director program management job descriptions, "organizational skills" is essential to what directors program management do. Director program management responsibilities rely on this skill because "some it managers must coordinate the work of several different it departments to make the organization run efficiently." You can also see how director program management duties rely on organizational skills in this resume example: "formalized the program management organizational requirements and hired world-class athletes. "

All director program management skills

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Compare different directors program management

Director program management vs. Information technology director

An information technology (IT) Director is an individual responsible for the management, strategy, and execution of an organization's IT infrastructure. He/She supervises a team of workers while working with the organization's management and external vendors and advisors. Aside from managing workers, an IT director should possess problem-solving skills and an aptitude for organizational thinking. An IT director must also identify new market opportunities and should lead an effort to improve the organization's IT process.

The annual salary of information technology directors is $2,383 lower than the average salary of directors program management.While the two careers have a salary gap, they share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both director program management and information technology director positions are skilled in project management, cloud, and business development.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a director program management are more likely to require skills like "program management," "customer satisfaction," "technical program management," and "product management." On the other hand, a job as an information technology director requires skills like "network infrastructure," "disaster recovery," "windows server," and "sql server." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

Information technology directors really shine in the technology industry with an average salary of $145,076. Comparatively, directors program management tend to make the most money in the technology industry with an average salary of $144,593.On average, information technology directors reach lower levels of education than directors program management. Information technology directors are 7.3% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.8% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Director program management vs. Program director

Program directors are employees who oversee all aspects of a specific program in the company. They usually work in nonprofit organizations or are assigned to a department doing corporate social responsibility activities. Program directors ensure that the program is in line with the company's goals. They also ensure that the resources assigned to the program are properly managed and that all finances are accounted for. They create strategies to ensure the success of the program and communicate these to everyone involved. They lead the implementation and evaluation of the program.

A career as a program director brings a lower average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a director program management. In fact, program directors salary is $60,625 lower than the salary of directors program management per year.A few skills overlap for directors program management and program directors. Resumes from both professions show that the duties of each career rely on skills like "program management," "oversight," and "business development. "

Each career also uses different skills, according to real director program management resumes. While director program management responsibilities can utilize skills like "project management," "cloud," "customer satisfaction," and "technical program management," program directors use skills like "social work," "patients," "mental health," and "program development."

Program directors earn a lower average salary than directors program management. But program directors earn the highest pay in the technology industry, with an average salary of $118,191. Additionally, directors program management earn the highest salaries in the technology with average pay of $144,593 annually.In general, program directors achieve similar levels of education than directors program management. They're 0.9% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.8% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Director program management vs. Technical services manager

A technical services manager is an individual who supervises and collaborates with staff members and clients to implement maintenance and repairs to the information technology (IT) system. Technical services managers must assist the technical operations performed by programmers and IT support experts to ensure that clients' targets are achievable. They must develop policies and strategies that are effective in fixing critical technical and procedural issues. Technical services managers must also ensure that software and hardware components are up-to-date.

An average technical services manager eans a lower salary compared to the average salary of directors program management. The difference in salaries amounts to technical services managers earning a $36,870 lower average salary than directors program management.directors program management and technical services managers both have job responsibilities that require similar skill sets. These similarities include skills such as "project management," "customer satisfaction," and "continuous improvement," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from director program management resumes include skills like "program management," "cloud," "technical program management," and "product management," whereas a technical services manager is more likely to list skills in "technical support," "linux," "email marketing," and "sql. "

Technical services managers make a very good living in the technology industry with an average annual salary of $109,385. On the other hand, directors program management are paid the highest salary in the technology industry, with average annual pay of $144,593.When it comes to education, technical services managers tend to earn lower degree levels compared to directors program management. In fact, they're 13.9% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.6% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Director program management vs. Senior director

Senior directors are the top management who manage the overall corporate structure of a brand. These executives take responsibility for the planning, operations, and profitability of the company. They direct and control all the functions of businesses. Their jobs cover the advertising, marketing, sales, and promotions of products and services. They are the people behind the tactical and strategic management of every asset of the enterprise through different programs.

Senior directors typically earn higher pay than directors program management. On average, senior directors earn a $10,758 higher salary per year.While their salaries may vary, directors program management and senior directors both use similar skills to perform their duties. Resumes from both professions include skills like "project management," "cloud," and "customer satisfaction. "Each job also requires different skills to carry out their responsibilities. A director program management uses "program management," "technical program management," "product management," and "governance." Senior directors are more likely to have duties that require skills in "healthcare," "analytics," "patients," and "portfolio. "senior directors enjoy the best pay in the pharmaceutical industry, with an average salary of $180,537. For comparison, directors program management earn the highest salary in the technology industry.senior directors reach similar levels of education compared to directors program management, in general. The difference is that they're 1.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 2.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of director program management

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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