Program administrator vs operations administrator

The differences between program administrators and operations 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 an operations administrator. Additionally, an operations administrator has an average salary of $50,962, 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 an operations administrator are various management, data entry, and clerical support.

Program administrator vs operations administrator overview

	Program Administrator	Operations Administrator
Yearly salary	$50,715	$50,962
Hourly rate	$24.38	$24.50
Growth rate	5%	5%
Number of jobs	119,898	115,828
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 an operations administrator do?

An operations administrator primarily edits, plans, coordinates, or directs the administrative services of an organization. This job involves keeping track of the organization's inventory, managing maintenance issues, offering administrative support, and answering phone calls. Among the necessary skills for the administrators are customer service or relations, timely delivery, data entry, order purchasing, and communication skills. They should also be able to manage the financial statements of the organization aside from its business operations.

Program administrator vs operations administrator salary

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

	Program Administrator	Operations Administrator
Average salary	$50,715	$50,962
Salary range	Between $34,000 And $73,000	Between $31,000 And $83,000
Highest paying City	Urban Honolulu, HI	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Hawaii	Hawaii
Best paying company	Meta	Ropes & Gray
Best paying industry	Government	Finance

Differences between program administrator and operations administrator education

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

	Program Administrator	Operations 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 operations administrator demographics

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

	Program Administrator	Operations Administrator
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 30.6% Female, 69.4%	Male, 34.8% Female, 65.2%
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, 9.1% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 8.7% White, 64.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between program administrator and operations 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.

Operations administrator example responsibilities.

Manage online digital storefront operations using PDF file format and HTML.
Manage all aspects of desktop support for several hundr users on site and at remote locations.
Establish operating policies and procedures and attain SNF Medicare certification.
Write queries through mainframe using SQL in order to produce reports for internal/external partners.
Monitor printers and desktop's utilizing WebJet Admin for page count and toner activity.
Learned and maintain department operations and the SQL jobs and reports that run for the business.

Program administrator vs operations administrator skills

Common program administrator skills

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

Common operations administrator skills

Various Management, 15%
Data Entry, 9%
Clerical Support, 6%
Administrative Functions, 6%
Photocopying, 5%
Management Review, 5%

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Program Administrator vs Operations Administrator

Updated January 8, 2025

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