Production director vs operations director

The differences between production directors and operations directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a production director, becoming an operations director takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a production director has an average salary of $118,207, which is higher than the $104,050 average annual salary of an operations director.

The top three skills for a production director include video production, project management and oversight. The most important skills for an operations director are customer service, continuous improvement, and oversight.

Production director vs operations director overview

	Production Director	Operations Director
Yearly salary	$118,207	$104,050
Hourly rate	$56.83	$50.02
Growth rate	8%	6%
Number of jobs	59,417	114,993
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 73%	Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Average age	40	44
Years of experience	2	6

What does a production director do?

Production directors work with production teams to manage the operation workflow, quality, and schedule adherence. They also monitor production activities to make necessary adjustments to the schedule to ensure that all deliverables are delivered on time, develop ideas for process improvements, and optimize production speed while maintaining the quality of the products. There are a few skills that most employers look for in production directors, like analytical skills, leadership skills, and creativity which are very helpful in fulfilling this role.

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.

Production director vs operations director salary

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

	Production Director	Operations Director
Average salary	$118,207	$104,050
Salary range	Between $70,000 And $199,000	Between $65,000 And $164,000
Highest paying City	White Plains, NY	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Connecticut	California
Best paying company	Netflix	Airbnb
Best paying industry	Finance	Finance

Differences between production director and operations director education

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

	Production Director	Operations Director
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 73%	Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Most common major	Communication	Business
Most common college	Stanford University	University of Pennsylvania

Production director vs operations director demographics

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

	Production Director	Operations Director
Average age	40	44
Gender ratio	Male, 70.0% Female, 30.0%	Male, 70.6% Female, 29.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 6.4% White, 65.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	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%
LGBT Percentage	14%	10%

Differences between production director and operations director duties and responsibilities

Production director example responsibilities.

Manage numerous departments within both boys and girl's wovens and denim.
Prepare RFQ's, manage quotes, review and evaluate all bids.
Manage UX and development teams, from inception to delivery of CMS platform.
Manage theatrical release masters and digital content for Netflix, DVD / BluRay release.
Manage 22 staff in all aspects of plastics injection / extrusion production and plant maintenance engineering.
Lead all budgeting efforts as related to implementation of print packaging, whether FDA mandate or market driven.

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.

Production director vs operations director skills

Common production director skills

Video Production, 10%
Project Management, 8%
Oversight, 6%
Production Process, 6%
Audio Production, 5%
Production Operations, 4%

Common operations director skills

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

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Production Director
Production Director vs Operations Director

Updated January 8, 2025

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