Parks recreation director vs program lead

The differences between parks recreation directors and program leads can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a parks recreation director and a program lead. Additionally, a program lead has an average salary of $100,727, which is higher than the $48,942 average annual salary of a parks recreation director.

The top three skills for a parks recreation director include aquatics, recreation programs and flag football. The most important skills for a program lead are project management, HR, and work ethic.

Parks recreation director vs program lead overview

	Parks Recreation Director	Program Lead
Yearly salary	$48,942	$100,727
Hourly rate	$23.53	$48.43
Growth rate	10%	10%
Number of jobs	7,782	61,632
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	4	4

What does a parks recreation director do?

A parks recreation director manages and leads the operations of a park's recreation department. You will be responsible for department oversight, budget management and requisition, coordination with other town council departments, recreation publicity campaigns, and overseeing capital expenditure. Parks recreation directors are the policy and strategy leads for city parks and submit regular reports to the council parks boards. Staff recruitment and supervision, community engagement in recreation activities, and ensuring policy compliance are other core duties.

What does a program lead do?

A program lead is responsible for managing a business program's operation from its conceptualization to implementation. Program leads must have excellent communication and researching skills to monitor current industry trends, adjusting program techniques and strategies to meet society's demands. They have a clear understanding of the organization's long-term goals and outline plans to define those objectives, bringing new programs to light following clients' specifications that would help the business grow revenues, maintain customer satisfaction, and keep its good reputation, and achieve profitability goals.

Parks recreation director vs program lead salary

Parks recreation directors and program leads have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Parks Recreation Director	Program Lead
Average salary	$48,942	$100,727
Salary range	Between $28,000 And $85,000	Between $59,000 And $171,000
Highest paying City	Cupertino, CA	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	Mississippi	New York
Best paying company	Icma-rc	Netflix
Best paying industry	Automotive	-

Differences between parks recreation director and program lead education

There are a few differences between a parks recreation director and a program lead in terms of educational background:

	Parks Recreation Director	Program Lead
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Most common major	Recreation Management	Business
Most common college	California State University - Long Beach	Northwestern University

Parks recreation director vs program lead demographics

Here are the differences between parks recreation directors' and program leads' demographics:

	Parks Recreation Director	Program Lead
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 69.1% Female, 30.9%	Male, 40.9% Female, 59.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 12.0% Unknown, 5.8% Hispanic or Latino, 15.3% Asian, 5.1% White, 61.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 10.0% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 15.5% Asian, 5.1% White, 62.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between parks recreation director and program lead duties and responsibilities

Parks recreation director example responsibilities.

Manage recreation staff and programming for assist living and rehabilitation and skil nursing facilities.
Perform minor first aid and CPR as needed.
Acquire MDS data for the use of the clinical reimbursement team, as well as assessed patients.
Examine injure persons and administer first aid or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, if necessary, using training and medical supplies and equipment.
Maintain written and personal communication with general public and local community through ongoing PowerPoint presentations, weekly newsletters and monthly newspaper.

Program lead example responsibilities.

Assess instructor effectiveness in achieving client ISP objectives.
Manage security and access policies base upon operational need-to-know and DOD regulations and requirements
Conduct daily clinical documentation audits, manage consumer financial accounts, provide oversight and approval for all treatment and discharge planning.
Up to date on CPR, trauma medical aid and restraints holds.
Know basics of first aid and CPR, have not receive certification yet.
Evaluate quarterly expenditure reports and project budgets, and release money to local NGOs.

Parks recreation director vs program lead skills

Common parks recreation director skills

Aquatics, 17%
Recreation Programs, 8%
Flag Football, 6%
Recreational Facilities, 5%
CPR, 5%
Program Development, 4%

Common program lead skills

Project Management, 13%
HR, 11%
Work Ethic, 10%
CPR, 8%
Customer Satisfaction, 7%
Customer Service, 5%

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Parks Recreation Director vs Program Lead

Updated January 8, 2025

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