Operations director vs operations team leader

The differences between operations directors and operations team leaders can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become an operations director, becoming an operations team leader takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, an operations director has an average salary of $104,050, which is higher than the $55,160 average annual salary of an operations team leader.

The top three skills for an operations director include customer service, continuous improvement and oversight. The most important skills for an operations team leader are customer service, continuous improvement, and excellent interpersonal.

Operations director vs operations team leader overview

	Operations Director	Operations Team Leader
Yearly salary	$104,050	$55,160
Hourly rate	$50.02	$26.52
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	114,993	179,669
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 53%
Average age	44	46
Years of experience	6	2

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 operations team leader do?

An operations team leader is an individual who manages teams, encouraging cooperation, productivity, and teamwork. Operations team leaders foster team unity and enhance the daily efficiency of the companies or any business establishment. They manage a diverse workforce in companies to make sure that the organizational operations are efficient. Also, they implement programs and processes and oversee building maintenance. It is also their responsibility to manage mechanical and human resources and establish a team budget.

Operations director vs operations team leader salary

Operations directors and operations team leaders have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Operations Director	Operations Team Leader
Average salary	$104,050	$55,160
Salary range	Between $65,000 And $164,000	Between $28,000 And $107,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	California	Massachusetts
Best paying company	Airbnb	McKinsey & Company Inc
Best paying industry	Finance	-

Differences between operations director and operations team leader education

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

	Operations Director	Operations Team Leader
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 53%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	Stanford University

Operations director vs operations team leader demographics

Here are the differences between operations directors' and operations team leaders' demographics:

	Operations Director	Operations Team Leader
Average age	44	46
Gender ratio	Male, 70.6% Female, 29.4%	Male, 66.2% Female, 33.8%
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, 12.9% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% Asian, 4.7% White, 60.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	10%	6%

Differences between operations director and operations team leader 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.

Operations team leader example responsibilities.

Manage a team of CNC operators during the facility's exit strategy for machining.
Help develop new WMS system and implement real time visual control charts to achieve production and quality KPI metrics.
Manage SLA by prioritizing and resolving requests/Incidents in accordance with agree service level agreement.
Manage an embed Facebook executive protection team that provide security and logistical support for a corporate executive and his family.
Initiate and complete deviations along with CAPA and/or NTR's.
Document production data, including OEE, QPS, and safety tracking forms.

Operations director vs operations team leader skills

Common operations director skills

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

Common operations team leader skills

Customer Service, 15%
Continuous Improvement, 7%
Excellent Interpersonal, 6%
Sales Floor, 6%
Safety Procedures, 5%
Process Improvement, 5%

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Operations Director
Operations Director vs Operations Team Leader

Updated January 8, 2025

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