Program administrator vs managing administrator

The differences between program administrators and managing administrators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a program administrator and a managing administrator. Additionally, a managing administrator has an average salary of $75,025, which is higher than the $50,715 average annual salary of a program administrator.

The top three skills for a program administrator include customer service, oversight and patients. The most important skills for a managing administrator are oversight, administrative functions, and payroll.

Program administrator vs managing administrator overview

	Program Administrator	Managing Administrator
Yearly salary	$50,715	$75,025
Hourly rate	$24.38	$36.07
Growth rate	5%	5%
Number of jobs	119,898	64,677
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 64%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Average age	43	43
Years of experience	2	2

What does a program administrator do?

Program administrators are responsible for planning, directing, and coordinating their organization's program or service. Their duties and responsibilities may vary depending on the industry they work at, such as educational, community, and social services. Among these duties are selecting and supervising the staff to manage a certain program or project, managing the program's budget, and evaluating the success of a program. To become successful in this role, a program administrator must have in-depth knowledge of project management disciplines, leadership skills, and decision-making and problem-solving skills.

What does a managing administrator do?

A managing administrator is responsible for monitoring business operations by ensuring the efficiency of administrative functions, delegating tasks to administrative staff, and tracking project deliverables. Managing administrators respond to the clients' inquiries and complaints, directing them to appropriate personnel to address their concerns. They also handle the budget for the administrative department, allocating adequate resources, and maintaining the office inventory. A managing administrator must have excellent communication and leadership skills, especially on training new staff and teaching best practices for maximum productivity.

Program administrator vs managing administrator salary

Program administrators and managing administrators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Program Administrator	Managing Administrator
Average salary	$50,715	$75,025
Salary range	Between $34,000 And $73,000	Between $47,000 And $119,000
Highest paying City	Urban Honolulu, HI	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Hawaii	California
Best paying company	Meta	Cornerstone Research
Best paying industry	Government	Finance

Differences between program administrator and managing administrator education

There are a few differences between a program administrator and a managing administrator in terms of educational background:

	Program Administrator	Managing Administrator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 64%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Stanford University	Stanford University

Program administrator vs managing administrator demographics

Here are the differences between program administrators' and managing administrators' demographics:

	Program Administrator	Managing Administrator
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 30.6% Female, 69.4%	Male, 37.6% Female, 62.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.8% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.5% Asian, 8.8% White, 64.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	Black or African American, 8.8% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.5% Asian, 8.8% White, 64.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between program administrator and managing administrator duties and responsibilities

Program administrator example responsibilities.

Manage monetary, laptop and training supports for members living with HIV.
Manage overall document inventory and wiki updates via SharePoint.
Manage CRM and SharePoint systems for online recruiting technology company.
Manage co-op vendor and provide overall program direction for Toyota dealers and regional offices nationwide.
Develop and implement administrative procedures for new mental health management unit providing day services to elderly patients.
Invoice clients using QuickBooks software.

Managing administrator example responsibilities.

Administer the intranet portal; manage HTML e-mail templates and campaigns.
Manage the CMS review and approval process of all marketing & other beneficiary collateral.
Manage unit HRIS and PC-III (Unix base system) and provide and/or remove access to.
Manage QA teams to develop application migration testing scenarios.
Create and manage a repository of group presentations and documents.
Manage quality assurance testing of new functionality including preparing and validating QA test cases.

Program administrator vs managing administrator skills

Common program administrator skills

Customer Service, 7%
Oversight, 7%
Patients, 6%
Project Management, 6%
PowerPoint, 4%
Client Facing, 4%

Common managing administrator skills

Oversight, 18%
Administrative Functions, 16%
Payroll, 14%
Customer Service, 7%
Salesforce, 4%
Project Management, 3%

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Program Administrator
Program Administrator vs Managing Administrator

Updated January 8, 2025

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