How To Become A National Director: What It Is and Career Path

What is a national director and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

A national director is tasked with designing, developing, and implementing strategic plans for an organization. This position requires them to oversee day-to-day operations of a particular organization and ensure that everything is running according to company policies. Moreover, they also devise plans to ensure efficiency and profitability of the company. They usually are assigned a particular region in which the company is operating.

National directors are tasked with developing and directing organizational strategy, drafting organizational policies, overseeing day-to-day business activities, conducting performance reviews, reporting on revenue and expenditure, and engaging with community groups. Essential skills required for the position include financial management, ethical behavior, communication, public relations, interpersonal skills, and organizational. Educational requirements include a bachelor's degree in business administration or equivalent; however, a master's degree holder may be given preference. Prior work experience in a similar field is also desirable.

The average hourly salary for the position is $65.15, which amounts to $135,511 annually. Moreover, the career is expected to grow in the near future, resulting in various new opportunities emerging across the United States.

ScoreNational DirectorUS Average

Salary

8.1

Avg. Salary $117,787

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.4

Growth rate 5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.24%

Asian 4.07%

Black or African American 3.24%

Hispanic or Latino 9.82%

Unknown 4.41%

White 78.23%

Gender

female 34.29%

male 65.71%

Age - 46

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 46

Stress level

6.4

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.7

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.4

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a national director

Explore national director education requirements

Most common national director degrees

Bachelor's

70.1 %

Master's

17.5 %

Associate

5.9 %

Start to develop specific national director skills

Skills	Percentages
Project Management	15.63%
Customer Service	10.42%
Healthcare	9.14%
Oversight	6.83%
Veterans	4.38%

Complete relevant national director training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New national directors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a national director based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real national director resumes.

Research national director duties and responsibilities

Lead and coordinate RFP process for large national accounts.
Garner B2C and B2B leads via trade and consumer shows; identify prospects for sales cultivation.
Lead primary and secondary research teams on industry strategy and advise executive leadership council.
Establish and manage the mid-Atlantic regional office of a privately own legal education company that provide educational services to law students.

Get national director experience

Generally, it takes 6-8 years to become a national director. The most common roles before becoming a national director include director, regional director team lead and vice president.

Prepare your national director resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your national director resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a national director resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable national director resume templates

Build a professional national director resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your national director resume.