Manager, project director vs project manager

The differences between managers, project director and project managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a manager, project director has an average salary of $104,614, which is higher than the $91,578 average annual salary of a project manager.

The top three skills for a manager, project director include project management, infrastructure and construction management. The most important skills for a project manager are project management, project scope, and customer service.

Manager, project director vs project manager overview

	Manager, Project Director	Project Manager
Yearly salary	$104,614	$91,578
Hourly rate	$50.30	$44.03
Growth rate	-	8%
Number of jobs	162,781	167,116
Job satisfaction	-	4.17
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 70%	Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	-	-

What does a manager, project director do?

A manager, project director monitors building progress, oversees finances, and ensures project quality. They make strategic decisions and provide leadership and direct project managers with feedback to put those decisions into practice. Project directors update project managers, stakeholders, and clients about project progress. Besides building robust working relationships and liaising with clients, these professionals also enable successful project completion by creating cost-effective plans. Manager, project directors manage risks to prevent reputational damage and delays. Moreover, these professionals ensure legal papers and permits get secured before starting the project.

What does a project manager do?

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.

Manager, project director vs project manager salary

Managers, project director and project managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Manager, Project Director	Project Manager
Average salary	$104,614	$91,578
Salary range	Between $67,000 And $161,000	Between $64,000 And $129,000
Highest paying City	Boston, MA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	California
Best paying company	Cambridge Associates	The Citadel
Best paying industry	Finance	Technology

Differences between manager, project director and project manager education

There are a few differences between a manager, project director and a project manager in terms of educational background:

	Manager, Project Director	Project Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 70%	Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Manager, project director vs project manager demographics

Here are the differences between managers, project director' and project managers' demographics:

	Manager, Project Director	Project Manager
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 69.8% Female, 30.2%	Male, 68.9% Female, 31.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.5% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.5% Asian, 8.8% White, 65.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	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%

Differences between manager, project director and project manager duties and responsibilities

Manager, project director example responsibilities.

Gather requirements, create RFP s, and manage the procurement process.
Manage qualitative projects from study design through analysis for consumer package goods, business-to-business, healthcare and pharmaceutical research projects.
Support sales team during RFP processes allowing for comprehensive development of solutions.
Administer PMO reviews for management board for projects status for all fund programs across the organization.
Support PMO organization, implementation and change management.
Collaborate with departmental project managers as well as contracted partners to implement new process work flows that positively impact Medicare patients.

Project manager example responsibilities.

Schedule and manage the GCP audit process.
Define, develop and manage metrics and KPIs systems for new product business group.
Manage the application process for the FDA medical device, minority and small business certifications.
Manage multiple projects and resources simultaneously while mentoring, coaching and implementing best practices, SOX and HIPAA compliance standards.
Lead teams using the Informatica ETL tool for the design and development of multiple financial and risk enterprise data warehouses.
Administer and manage Salesforce requirements.

Manager, project director vs project manager skills

Common manager, project director skills

Project Management, 20%
Infrastructure, 7%
Construction Management, 7%
Project Scope, 6%
Program Management, 5%
Logistics, 5%

Common project manager skills

Project Management, 23%
Project Scope, 6%
Customer Service, 6%
Infrastructure, 5%
Status Reports, 4%
Risk Management, 3%

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Executive Management Industry
Manager, Project Director
Manager, Project Director vs Project Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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