Laboratory director vs service director

The differences between laboratory directors and service directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a laboratory director and a service director. Additionally, a service director has an average salary of $114,981, which is higher than the $92,971 average annual salary of a laboratory director.

The top three skills for a laboratory director include clinical laboratory, patients and patient care. The most important skills for a service director are patients, healthcare, and patient care.

Laboratory director vs service director overview

	Laboratory Director	Service Director
Yearly salary	$92,971	$114,981
Hourly rate	$44.70	$55.28
Growth rate	28%	28%
Number of jobs	59,500	64,277
Job satisfaction	5	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 59%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	6	6

What does a laboratory director do?

A Laboratory Director is responsible for the overall operation and administration of the laboratory. They examine data, create reports, manage the staff, and ensure that the lab facility operates in accordance with the regulatory provisions of the government and the organization.

What does a service director do?

A service director is responsible for managing and implementing customer service policies and ensuring that all staff strictly adhere to reach the highest customer satisfaction. Service directors' duties include identifying business opportunities to improve customers' experience, monitoring the performance of the customer service team, developing strategic procedures on service delivery, creating new promotional offers and services, and coaching the team to increase business productivity. A service director must have excellent leadership and communication skills, as well as extensive knowledge of the customer service industry to lead the team and boost company sales.

Laboratory director vs service director salary

Laboratory directors and service directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Laboratory Director	Service Director
Average salary	$92,971	$114,981
Salary range	Between $55,000 And $156,000	Between $70,000 And $188,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Delaware	California
Best paying company	Reed Smith	Mayo Clinic
Best paying industry	Media	Technology

Differences between laboratory director and service director education

There are a few differences between a laboratory director and a service director in terms of educational background:

	Laboratory Director	Service Director
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 59%
Most common major	Biology	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Laboratory director vs service director demographics

Here are the differences between laboratory directors' and service directors' demographics:

	Laboratory Director	Service Director
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 55.9% Female, 44.1%	Male, 57.2% Female, 42.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.5% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.7% Asian, 8.1% White, 61.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 11.2% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.4% Asian, 7.6% White, 61.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	12%	12%

Differences between laboratory director and service director duties and responsibilities

Laboratory director example responsibilities.

Perform and manage quality control, maintenance and calibration of all equipment in hematology, coagulation and urinalysis.
Set up forensic DNA laboratory, train laboratory technicians in advance molecular techniques, and manage day-to-day activities of forensic DNA laboratory
Consult patients on various laboratory procedures involve in IVF.
Supervise 8 managers and 130 full-time employees (FTEs).
Focus on sterility, endotoxin, water and bioburden testing.
Restore compliance integrity of lab back to full capacity in time for JCAHO inspection.

Service director example responsibilities.

Lead and manage implementation and customization of SharePoint to replace legacy document approval system and document filing system.
Lead the training program for child psychiatry residents.
Manage social medias (Weibo, Facebook and etc . )
Assist in managing client accounts by managing HVAC alignments and ensuring contractual requirements are meet.
Manage a staff of 280 FTE s and a management team of 6 in a union environment.
Manage all daily operations, both clinical and support, during and after Medicare trials to ensure long-term business viability.

Laboratory director vs service director skills

Common laboratory director skills

Clinical Laboratory, 11%
Patients, 10%
Patient Care, 9%
CLIA, 6%
Test Results, 6%
Laboratory Services, 4%

Common service director skills

Patients, 12%
Healthcare, 10%
Patient Care, 10%
Customer Service, 9%
Oversight, 5%
Surgery, 4%

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Laboratory Director
Laboratory Director vs Service Director

Updated January 8, 2025

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