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Interior design director vs design manager

The differences between interior design directors and design managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become an interior design director, becoming a design manager takes usually requires More than 10 years. Additionally, a design manager has an average salary of $102,637, which is higher than the $88,458 average annual salary of an interior design director.

The top three skills for an interior design director include design concepts, photoshop and business development. The most important skills for a design manager are sketch, project management, and visualization.

Interior design director vs design manager overview

Interior Design DirectorDesign Manager
Yearly salary$88,458$102,637
Hourly rate$42.53$49.34
Growth rate1%2%
Number of jobs43,10361,273
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 71%Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Average age4248
Years of experience4-

Interior design director vs design manager salary

Interior design directors and design managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Interior Design DirectorDesign Manager
Average salary$88,458$102,637
Salary rangeBetween $54,000 And $143,000Between $69,000 And $150,000
Highest paying City-San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state-California
Best paying company-Meta
Best paying industry-Technology

Differences between interior design director and design manager education

There are a few differences between an interior design director and a design manager in terms of educational background:

Interior Design DirectorDesign Manager
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 71%Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Most common majorInterior DesignGraphic Design
Most common collegeCornell UniversityUniversity of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Interior design director vs design manager demographics

Here are the differences between interior design directors' and design managers' demographics:

Interior Design DirectorDesign Manager
Average age4248
Gender ratioMale, 30.2% Female, 69.8%Male, 63.8% Female, 36.2%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 1.5% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 7.6% Asian, 4.6% White, 82.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 11.8% White, 71.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage23%9%

Differences between interior design director and design manager duties and responsibilities

Interior design director example responsibilities.

  • Manage the schematic phase and generate all the necessary documents to be submit to the structural and MEP consultants.
  • Work include a broad portfolio of corporate, healthcare, institutional and educational projects.
  • Establish architecture process allowing architecture evolution through contributions
  • Design and draft compression and transfer rubber molds and steel rule dies in SolidWorks.
  • Establish innovative and collaborative mechanical designs and component parts of equipment while using AutoCAD and SolidWorks simultaneously.
  • Establish architecture process allowing architecture evolution through contributions

Design manager example responsibilities.

  • Help achieve status of medical device manufacturer through the FDA.
  • Manage several consultants preparing contract documents on the various NYC let and NYS let projects.
  • Manage and collaborate with ASIC library/memory vendors.
  • Manage design, tooling, equipment implementations and process improvements for foundry/machining metalworking manufacturer of automotive OEM products.
  • Design blueprints, bills of materials, FEA as required.
  • Include producing FDA and ISO-9000 level documentation of the project.
  • Show more

Interior design director vs design manager skills

Common interior design director skills
  • Design Concepts, 20%
  • Photoshop, 17%
  • Business Development, 10%
  • Design Process, 9%
  • Leed, 8%
  • Space Planning, 7%
Common design manager skills
  • Sketch, 8%
  • Project Management, 8%
  • Visualization, 5%
  • User Experience, 4%
  • PowerPoint, 4%
  • Design Process, 4%

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