Operations director vs associate director

The differences between operations directors and associate directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, an associate director has an average salary of $114,223, which is higher than the $104,050 average annual salary of an operations director.

The top three skills for an operations director include customer service, continuous improvement and oversight. The most important skills for an associate director are patients, healthcare, and project management.

Operations director vs associate director overview

	Operations Director	Associate Director
Yearly salary	$104,050	$114,223
Hourly rate	$50.02	$54.91
Growth rate	6%	8%
Number of jobs	114,993	72,370
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Average age	44	47
Years of experience	6	-

What does an operations director do?

Operations directors oversee all company operations. They have the power to set the direction, change the course of the organization, and reform strategies to ensure efficiency in how the company operates. Operations directors manage business operations effectively by constantly analyzing company data and by anticipating any challenge that may come their way. As such, they make sound business decisions and recommendations that will help strengthen the organization. Operations directors oversee finances, quality control, and even human resources. They ensure that all aspects of the business are considered in making business operations decisions.

What does an associate director do?

An associate director oversees the daily activities and business operations within a particular area. They are primarily responsible for devising strategies that aim for growth in profit and customer satisfaction, implementing policies and standards, evaluate the workforce, providing support to various departments, and setting goals in terms of budget and sales. Furthermore, they must regularly report progress to the director and coordinate with managers and supervisors in the joint effort to reach the vision and mission of the company.

Operations director vs associate director salary

Operations directors and associate directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Operations Director	Associate Director
Average salary	$104,050	$114,223
Salary range	Between $65,000 And $164,000	Between $79,000 And $164,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	South San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	New Jersey
Best paying company	Airbnb	Legalmatch.com
Best paying industry	Finance	Pharmaceutical

Differences between operations director and associate director education

There are a few differences between an operations director and an associate director in terms of educational background:

	Operations Director	Associate Director
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Operations director vs associate director demographics

Here are the differences between operations directors' and associate directors' demographics:

	Operations Director	Associate Director
Average age	44	47
Gender ratio	Male, 70.6% Female, 29.4%	Male, 52.0% Female, 48.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.1% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.9% Asian, 6.3% White, 67.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 7.5% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.6% Asian, 8.9% White, 65.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	10%	10%

Differences between operations director and associate director duties and responsibilities

Operations director example responsibilities.

Manage KPI reports from all warranty companies to ensure increasing sales and productivity.
Spearhead governance, security and compliance initiatives to achieve SOX and PCI compliance.
Manage a PMO style team to implement any changes across the global contact centers.
Develop all marketing strategies and materials as well as personally managing key OEM and national accounts.
Manage multiple vendor relationships for RFP development and review, contract negotiation, contract terms management, and accounts payable review.
Provide leadership to manufacturing organization by aligning overall KPIs to achieve near term and long term business objectives.

Associate director example responsibilities.

Lead implementation of OPPE and FPPE for TJC.
Manage accounting, weekly reports, local contacts, and maintenance of sets, props, and costumes.
Manage all aspects of music ministry - including arranging all music for schedule services special programs and events.
Manage departmental training schedules, work schedules and CPSI electronic medical record (EMR), certifications and competencies.
Manage web development and rebranding initiative.
Create a coordinate university social media committee quadrupling engagement during campaigns and achieving a national twitter trend during commencement.

Operations director vs associate director skills

Common operations director skills

Customer Service, 12%
Continuous Improvement, 7%
Oversight, 7%
Patients, 6%
Project Management, 5%
Human Resources, 4%

Common associate director skills

Patients, 11%
Healthcare, 8%
Project Management, 6%
Oversight, 6%
Portfolio, 6%
Excellent Interpersonal, 5%

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Operations Director
Operations Director vs Associate Director

Updated January 8, 2025

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