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What is a project development director and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
2 min read
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a project development director. For example, did you know that they make an average of $52.52 an hour? That's $109,241 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 7% and produce 2,900 job opportunities across the U.S.
ScoreProject Development DirectorUS Average
Salary
7.8

Avg. Salary $109,241

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level
-

Growth rate 7%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity
3.4
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.66%

Asian 8.82%

Black or African American 7.47%

Hispanic or Latino 12.50%

Unknown 4.69%

White 65.87%

Gender

female 29.02%

male 70.98%

Age - 47
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 47
Complexity level
1.8

Complexity level is simple

7 - challenging

Project development director career paths

Key steps to become a project development director

  1. Explore project development director education requirements

    Most common project development director degrees

    Bachelor's

    69.6 %

    Master's

    21.8 %

    Associate

    5.0 %
  2. Start to develop specific project development director skills

    SkillsPercentages
    Renewable Energy20.32%
    Project Management18.47%
    Real Estate8.83%
    Architecture6.57%
    Development Process5.72%
  3. Research project development director duties and responsibilities

    • Manage qualitative projects from study design through analysis for consumer package goods, business-to-business, healthcare and pharmaceutical research projects.
    • Authore and approve all request for proposal (RFP), engineering test reports and test plans used to provide services.
    • Provide oversight and direction on domestic and international projects impacting commercial markets, including conducting competitive assessments base on project results.
    • Train the Mid-Atlantic technicians on Oracle/Sun base servers, applications & daily troubleshooting.
  4. Get project development director experience

  5. Prepare your project development director resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your project development director resume.

    You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a project development director resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

    Choose from 10+ customizable project development director resume templates

    Build a professional project development director resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your project development director resume.
    Project Development Director Resume
    Project Development Director Resume
    Project Development Director Resume
    Project Development Director Resume
    Project Development Director Resume
    Project Development Director Resume
    Project Development Director Resume
    Project Development Director Resume
    Project Development Director Resume
  6. Apply for project development director jobs

    Now it's time to start searching for a project development director job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

    1. Browse job boards for relevant postings
    2. Consult your professional network
    3. Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
    4. Watch out for job scams

How did you land your first project development director job

Zippi

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Average project development director salary

The average project development director salary in the United States is $109,241 per year or $53 per hour. Project development director salaries range between $69,000 and $171,000 per year.

Average project development director salary
$109,241 Yearly
$52.52 hourly

What am I worth?

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How do project development directors rate their job?

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Project development director reviews

profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2020
Cons

Negativity - you have to be positive to get things done


profile
A zippia user wrote a review on May 2019
Pros

An excellent opportunity to gain new experiences, provide technical direction and expertise in challenging areas and serve as a technical liaison between project sponsor and programmers.


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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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