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Program director vs project manager

The differences between program directors and project managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a project manager has an average salary of $91,578, which is higher than the $80,664 average annual salary of a program director.

The top three skills for a program director include oversight, social work and patients. The most important skills for a project manager are project management, project scope, and customer service.

Program director vs project manager overview

Program DirectorProject Manager
Yearly salary$80,664$91,578
Hourly rate$38.78$44.03
Growth rate8%8%
Number of jobs82,810167,116
Job satisfaction-4.17
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 62%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Average age4047
Years of experience6-

What does a program director do?

Program directors are employees who oversee all aspects of a specific program in the company. They usually work in nonprofit organizations or are assigned to a department doing corporate social responsibility activities. Program directors ensure that the program is in line with the company's goals. They also ensure that the resources assigned to the program are properly managed and that all finances are accounted for. They create strategies to ensure the success of the program and communicate these to everyone involved. They lead the implementation and evaluation of the program.

What does a project manager do?

Project managers oversee a specific project related to the organization's business. They manage the whole project from inception to evaluation. They initiate planning with involved departments, follow-through on the plans, ensure smooth execution of the plans, and evaluate the project for further improvements should these be needed. In line with this, project managers also ensure that the project is cost-efficient and well within the budget. They also manage the different work teams involved in the project and ensure that things are running smoothly on this aspect as well.

Program director vs project manager salary

Program directors and project managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Program DirectorProject Manager
Average salary$80,664$91,578
Salary rangeBetween $50,000 And $129,000Between $64,000 And $129,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateGeorgiaCalifornia
Best paying companyMayo ClinicThe Citadel
Best paying industryTechnologyTechnology

Differences between program director and project manager education

There are a few differences between a program director and a project manager in terms of educational background:

Program DirectorProject Manager
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 62%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeStanford UniversityUniversity of Pennsylvania

Program director vs project manager demographics

Here are the differences between program directors' and project managers' demographics:

Program DirectorProject Manager
Average age4047
Gender ratioMale, 41.4% Female, 58.6%Male, 68.9% Female, 31.1%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 8.0% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 6.4% White, 65.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 7.7% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.9% Asian, 9.0% White, 65.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage14%10%

Differences between program director and project manager duties and responsibilities

Program director example responsibilities.

  • Manage personnel performing SAS programming, technical document preparation and quality assurance.
  • Manage program budgets and supervise staff to ensure that immunization and registry activities are successfully implement.
  • Manage direct support professionals serving adult populations for persons with mental health, developmental disabilities and children with autism.
  • Manage day-to-day oversight and management involving planning, programming, execution, distribution, and analysis for assign organizations budgets.
  • Implement client ADL, ISP, and behavior plans in a group home.
  • Organize schedule for swim lessons and kids camp.
    • Show more

Project manager example responsibilities.

  • Schedule and manage the GCP audit process.
  • Define, develop and manage metrics and KPIs systems for new product business group.
  • Manage the application process for the FDA medical device, minority and small business certifications.
  • Manage multiple projects and resources simultaneously while mentoring, coaching and implementing best practices, SOX and HIPAA compliance standards.
  • Lead teams using the Informatica ETL tool for the design and development of multiple financial and risk enterprise data warehouses.
  • Administer and manage Salesforce requirements.
    • Show more

Program director vs project manager skills

Common program director skills
  • Oversight, 9%
  • Social Work, 6%
  • Patients, 6%
  • Customer Service, 5%
  • Mental Health, 5%
  • Program Management, 5%
Common project manager skills
  • Project Management, 23%
  • Project Scope, 6%
  • Customer Service, 6%
  • Infrastructure, 5%
  • Status Reports, 4%
  • Risk Management, 3%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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