Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between launch managers and project managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a launch manager has an average salary of $111,309, which is higher than the $91,578 average annual salary of a project manager.
The top three skills for a launch manager include project management, lifecycle management and APQP. The most important skills for a project manager are project management, project scope, and customer service.
| Launch Manager | Project Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $111,309 | $91,578 |
| Hourly rate | $53.51 | $44.03 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 109,170 | 167,116 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4.17 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 39 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 10 | - |
A launch manager is primarily in charge of overseeing and spearheading the efforts in introducing new products and services to the market. Their responsibilities include setting objectives, performing research and analysis to establish marketing plans, coordinating with different teams in finding and developing marketing opportunities, managing timelines and budgets, supervising promotional procedures, and conducting inspections to ensure the quality and readiness of products and services for launch. Furthermore, as a launch manager, it is essential to lead and encourage teams to reach goals while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
Project managers oversee a specific project related to the organization's business. They manage the whole project from inception to evaluation. They initiate planning with involved departments, follow-through on the plans, ensure smooth execution of the plans, and evaluate the project for further improvements should these be needed. In line with this, project managers also ensure that the project is cost-efficient and well within the budget. They also manage the different work teams involved in the project and ensure that things are running smoothly on this aspect as well.
Launch managers and project managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Launch Manager | Project Manager | |
| Average salary | $111,309 | $91,578 |
| Salary range | Between $72,000 And $171,000 | Between $64,000 And $129,000 |
| Highest paying City | Annapolis, MD | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a launch manager and a project manager in terms of educational background:
| Launch Manager | Project Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Georgia | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between launch managers' and project managers' demographics:
| Launch Manager | Project Manager | |
| Average age | 39 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 73.4% Female, 26.6% | Male, 68.9% Female, 31.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | 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% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 10% |