What does a professional development director do?
A professional development director spearheads and develops training services and professional development programs to enhance the skills and abilities of employees in a company, paving the way for career growth. They have the responsibility to set goals and objectives, establish guidelines and timelines, coordinate teams and managers, liaise with external agencies, and oversee procedures from planning to execution. Moreover, as a professional development director, it is essential to lead staff while implementing policies and regulations, developing new ones as needed.
Professional development director responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real professional development director resumes:
- Extend product revenue by delivering new products for managing configuration of Linux platforms.
- Prepare powerpoint to production specifications covering research base on SLIFE learning challenges and key program components for effective instruction of SLIFE.
- Supervise certified nursing assistants with bed placement for post-op patients and maintain paperwork require for house clinician.
- Implement train-the-trainer programs using SMEs that save the company money by eliminating outside vendors.
- Engage in personnel hiring decisions, interview candidates, and identify SMEs for specialize consulting work.
- Provide executive oversight and leadership for HR/Payroll best practices driving organizational change.
Professional development director skills and personality traits
We calculated that 10% of Professional Development Directors are proficient in Professional Development, Oversight, and Adult Learning. They’re also known for soft skills such as Business skills, Collaboration skills, and Instructional skills.
We break down the percentage of Professional Development Directors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Professional Development, 10%
Studied professional development for in- service teachers on engaging students in science discussions through curriculum materials and professional development.
- Oversight, 9%
Oversee, manage, and develop Districts in Action budgets; hire and manage staff with budgetary and management oversight.
- Adult Learning, 7%
Facilitated faculty and student education based on adult learning theory, learning innovations, and learner-centered delivery methods.
- K-12, 7%
Delivered K-12 software production implementation, sales support and professional development services.
- Curriculum Development, 6%
Manage the curriculum development process within the Center's content areas as well as new initiatives around literacy and STEM.
- Staff Development, 5%
Facilitated weekly staff development seminars using Truth Project materials.
Most professional development directors use their skills in "professional development," "oversight," and "adult learning" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential professional development director responsibilities here:
Business skills. One of the key soft skills for a professional development director to have is business skills. You can see how this relates to what professional development directors do because "training and development managers must understand business operations in order to match training with business goals." Additionally, a professional development director resume shows how professional development directors use business skills: "developed, marketed, and managed professional development offerings for the college of business. "
Collaboration skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling professional development director duties is collaboration skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "training and development managers need strong interpersonal skills because delivering training programs requires working in concert with staff, trainees, subject matter experts, and the organization’s leaders." According to a professional development director resume, here's how professional development directors can utilize collaboration skills in their job responsibilities: "created program procedures and protocols, initiated and facilitated collaboration among many stakeholder groups for professional development and curriculum. "
Instructional skills. This is an important skill for professional development directors to perform their duties. For an example of how professional development director responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "training and development managers need to understand the fundamentals of teaching and lesson planning." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a professional development director: "collaborated with principals and instructional superintendents to normalize professional development goals and align achievements. ".
Leadership skills. A big part of what professional development directors do relies on "leadership skills." You can see how essential it is to professional development director responsibilities because "managers are often in charge of a staff and programs." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical professional development director tasks: "organized large (>100 attendees) leadership & career development events"
Communication skills. A commonly-found skill in professional development director job descriptions, "communication skills" is essential to what professional development directors do. Professional development director responsibilities rely on this skill because "training and development managers must clearly convey information to diverse audiences." You can also see how professional development director duties rely on communication skills in this resume example: "managed the development and delivery of online professional development workshops to 500 faculty members utilizing the adobe breeze communication tool. "
The three companies that hire the most professional development directors are:
- General Communication2 professional development directors jobs
- NVIDIA2 professional development directors jobs
- Long Island Cares
2 professional development directors jobs
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Compare different professional development directors
Professional development director vs. Hse manager
A health, safety, and environmental (HSE) manager is primarily in charge of spearheading and overseeing a company's health and safety programs. Their responsibilities typically revolve around coordinating with different departments to gather data, assessing existing programs and policies to identify areas needing improvement, implementing solutions on issues and concerns, developing strategies to execute programs, and creating new safety policies as necessary. Furthermore, as an HSE manager, it is essential to lead and encourage team members to reach goals, all while enforcing the company's policies and regulations.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between professional development directors and hse manager. For instance, professional development director responsibilities require skills such as "professional development," "adult learning," "k-12," and "curriculum development." Whereas a hse manager is skilled in "regulatory agencies," "osha," "environmental regulations," and "safety program." This is part of what separates the two careers.
On average, hse managers reach lower levels of education than professional development directors. Hse managers are 11.4% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 3.8% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Professional development director vs. Training administrator
Training administrators coordinate employees and management training programs. The administrators administer competency or skill assessments, outplacement, career counseling, and other specialized training for employees. They update and organize the training programs for administrative and clerical works. It is also their job to plan and enforce these programs for government agencies, business enterprises, and other institutions. Leadership skills, communication skills, and management skills are necessary for this job.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that professional development director responsibilities requires skills like "oversight," "adult learning," "k-12," and "curriculum development." But a training administrator might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "nursing home," "long-term care," "home health," and "logistics."
In general, training administrators achieve lower levels of education than professional development directors. They're 8.9% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 3.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Professional development director vs. Training manager
A training manager is responsible for directing new staff with the tasks and training programs, leading the business to its growth and profitable development. Training managers' duties include supervising the staff's performance and improvement, facilitating knowledge assessment and developmental training, sharing strategic plans and techniques, creating effective training manuals, monitoring training expenses, and evaluating areas of improvement. A training manager must have excellent leadership and communication skills, as well as extensive experience on how to improve the team's performance and enhance their capabilities.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a professional development director is likely to be skilled in "oversight," "adult learning," "k-12," and "staff development," while a typical training manager is skilled in "customer service," "brainstorming," "food safety," and "payroll."
Training managers typically earn lower educational levels compared to professional development directors. Specifically, they're 14.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 3.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Professional development director vs. Senior training manager
A senior training manager is responsible for facilitating and monitoring training programs and orientations for all employees and new staff. Senior training managers handle the training budgets and ensure the allocation of resources to support training operations. They also develop training management plans by coordinating with department heads for the necessary business needs. A senior training manager must have excellent communication and leadership skills, especially in resolving issues and strategizing efficient training methodologies with strict adherence to company standards and regulations.
Types of professional development director
Updated January 8, 2025
