Operations director vs senior director, operations

The differences between operations directors and senior directors, operations can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both an operations director and a senior director, operations. Additionally, a senior director, operations has an average salary of $149,771, 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 a senior director, operations are customer service, oversight, and continuous improvement.

Operations director vs senior director, operations overview

	Operations Director	Senior Director, Operations
Yearly salary	$104,050	$149,771
Hourly rate	$50.02	$72.01
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	114,993	120,499
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 71%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	6	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 a senior director, operations do?

The senior director of operations generally works with other managers to set goals for the future of the company and evaluates performance to check whether certain goals are achieved. They are responsible for making sure that operational processes are within the prescribed budget and timeline. Also, they oversee, implement, and evaluate operation processes and procedures to see if they comply with the set standards and procedures of the company. Additionally, they lead in developing strategies and implementation plans to enhance and standardize all units of operations.

Operations director vs senior director, operations salary

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

	Operations Director	Senior Director, Operations
Average salary	$104,050	$149,771
Salary range	Between $65,000 And $164,000	Between $103,000 And $216,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Olympia, WA
Highest paying state	California	Washington
Best paying company	Airbnb	Genentech
Best paying industry	Finance	Hospitality

Differences between operations director and senior director, operations education

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

	Operations Director	Senior Director, Operations
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 71%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Operations director vs senior director, operations demographics

Here are the differences between operations directors' and senior directors, operations' demographics:

	Operations Director	Senior Director, Operations
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 70.6% Female, 29.4%	Male, 75.7% Female, 24.3%
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, 6.2% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.4% Asian, 6.4% White, 67.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	10%	10%

Differences between operations director and senior director, operations 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.

Senior director, operations example responsibilities.

Design and manage systems and processes to deliver consistent, scalable and compliant with SOX and other regulations.
Manage PMO with responsibility for performance management, resource and portfolio management.
Manage new product co-development program with a major medical device company that enable remote surgical oversight and support.
Finance and billing accountability across Medicaid, manage care commercial insurance, insurance verification, contract management, and benefits administration.
Introduce KPIs to raise performance in business development, supply chain, and CRM - aligning CRM with long-term strategy.
Steer RapidApp, a mid-size mobile SaaS platform, through the acquisition process.

Operations director vs senior director, operations skills

Common operations director skills

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

Common senior director, operations skills

Customer Service, 8%
Oversight, 7%
Continuous Improvement, 6%
SR, 6%
Project Management, 5%
Process Improvement, 4%

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Operations Director
Operations Director vs Senior Director, Operations

Updated January 8, 2025

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