Program managers lead a project to success. They are responsible for carrying on the project with all the supplementary budget, human resources, training, and supervision tasks.
An annual salary of $92,000 puts them at $44.63 per hour. This job does require them to develop considerable skills in project maintenance and customer relationship. They oversee the entire program and create concrete procedures to achieve the allocated time's required goals, keeping everything on a fixed schedule.
At a minimum, they may need a bachelor's degree in either business, psychology, or management. If they want to excel in this job, a master's degree is a must.
Director, Program Manager Overview
Working as a Director, Program Manager
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a director, program manager. For example, did you know that they make an average of $52.21 an hour? That's $108,592 a year!
What Does a Director, Program Manager Do
There are certain skills that many director, program managers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed managerial skills, customer-service skills and analytical skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a director, program manager, we found that a lot of resumes listed 25.1% of director, program managers included project management, while 7.1% of resumes included oversight, and 5.3% of resumes included procedures. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the director, program manager job title. But what industry to start with? Most director, program managers actually find jobs in the technology and health care industries.
How To Become a Director, Program Manager
If you're interested in becoming a director, program manager, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 40.6% of director, program managers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 36.4% of director, program managers have master's degrees. Even though most director, program managers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a director, program manager. When we researched the most common majors for a director, program manager, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on director, program manager resumes include associate degree degrees or doctoral degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a director, program manager. In fact, many director, program manager jobs require experience in a role such as program manager. Meanwhile, many director, program managers also have previous career experience in roles such as senior project manager or project manager.
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Director, Program Manager Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of executive director you might progress to a role such as chief executive officer eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title chief executive officer.
Director, Program Manager
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Average Salary for a Director, Program Manager
Director, Program Managers in America make an average salary of $108,592 per year or $52 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $185,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $63,000 per year.
Average Salary
$108,592
Best Paying Cities
City
Average Salary
$51k
$184k
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Maryland Government Jobs Program Manager I-Transportation Director Program Manager I-Transportation Director | Maryland Government Jobs Maryland Government Jobs | 11/23/2020 11/23/2020 | $56,72711/23/2020 $56,727 |
Sc Department of Public Safety Program Manager II (County Director II)/61014051 Program Manager II (County Director II)/61014051 | Sc Department of Public Safety Sc Department of Public Safety | 10/23/2020 10/23/2020 | $60,34410/23/2020 $60,344 |
Sc Department of Public Safety Program Manager III (State Public Health Laboratory Director) Program Manager III (State Public Health Laboratory Director) | Sc Department of Public Safety Sc Department of Public Safety | 09/04/2020 09/04/2020 | $73,42109/04/2020 $73,421 |
State of Indiana Program Director-Ryan White Services Manager Program Director-Ryan White Services Manager | State of Indiana State of Indiana | 07/18/2020 07/18/2020 | $41,57407/18/2020 $41,574 |
Office of The Chief Information Officer Program Manager (Director-State, Local and Tribal Programs) Program Manager (Director-State, Local and Tribal Programs) | Office of The Chief Information Officer Office of The Chief Information Officer | 06/29/2020 06/29/2020 | $170,80006/29/2020 $170,800 |
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Director, Program Manager Resumes
Designing and figuring out what to include on your resume can be tough, not to mention time-consuming. That's why we put together a guide that is designed to help you craft the perfect resume for becoming a Director, Program Manager. If you're needing extra inspiration, take a look through our selection of templates that are specific to your job.
Learn How To Write a Director, Program Manager Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Director, Program Manager resumes and compiled some information about how best to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Detailed InformationTop Colleges for Director, Program Managers
1. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
In-State Tuition
$55,584
Enrollment
10,764
2. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
In-State Tuition
$56,225
Enrollment
19,548
3. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
In-State Tuition
$54,568
Enrollment
8,451
4. Boston University
Boston, MA • Private
In-State Tuition
$53,948
Enrollment
17,238
5. Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA • Public
In-State Tuition
$18,454
Enrollment
40,108
6. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
In-State Tuition
$50,420
Enrollment
7,582
7. University of Washington
Seattle, WA • Public
In-State Tuition
$11,207
Enrollment
30,905
8. University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX • Public
In-State Tuition
$10,610
Enrollment
40,329
9. New York University
New York, NY • Private
In-State Tuition
$51,828
Enrollment
26,339
10. University of Maryland - College Park
College Park, MD • Public
In-State Tuition
$10,595
Enrollment
30,184
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Top Skills For a Director, Program Manager
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 25.1% of director, program managers listed project management on their resume, but soft skills such as managerial skills and customer-service skills are important as well.
- Project Management, 25.1%
- Oversight, 7.1%
- Procedures, 5.3%
- Service Delivery, 4.1%
- Portfolio, 3.5%
- Other Skills, 54.9% See All Director, Program Manager Skills
Best States For a Director, Program Manager
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a director, program manager. The best states for people in this position are New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. Director, program managers make the most in New York with an average salary of $113,634. Whereas in Connecticut and Pennsylvania, they would average $113,295 and $107,789, respectively. While director, program managers would only make an average of $104,903 in Massachusetts, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Connecticut
Total Director, Program Manager Jobs:
792
Highest 10% Earn:
$206,000
Location Quotient:
1.3
Location Quotient is a measure used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to determine how concentrated a certain industry is in a single state compared to the nation as a whole. You can read more about how BLS calculates location quotients here
$113,296
Avg. Salary
2. District of Columbia
Total Director, Program Manager Jobs:
857
Highest 10% Earn:
$210,000
Location Quotient:
2.28
Location Quotient is a measure used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to determine how concentrated a certain industry is in a single state compared to the nation as a whole. You can read more about how BLS calculates location quotients here
$118,379
Avg. Salary
3. New York
Total Director, Program Manager Jobs:
3,056
Highest 10% Earn:
$206,000
Location Quotient:
1.22
Location Quotient is a measure used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to determine how concentrated a certain industry is in a single state compared to the nation as a whole. You can read more about how BLS calculates location quotients here
$113,635
Avg. Salary
How Do Director, Program Manager Rate Their Jobs?
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Director, Program Manager Videos
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