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Project director vs director of project management

The differences between project directors and directors of project management can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a director of project management has an average salary of $126,958, which is higher than the $107,396 average annual salary of a project director.

The top three skills for a project director include project management, oversight and customer satisfaction. The most important skills for a director of project management are oversight, risk management, and resource management.

Project director vs director of project management overview

Project DirectorDirector Of Project Management
Yearly salary$107,396$126,958
Hourly rate$51.63$61.04
Growth rate-16%
Number of jobs116,968200,498
Job satisfaction5-
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 66%Bachelor's Degree, 71%
Average age4747
Years of experience--

What does a project director do?

A project director is an individual responsible for supervising workers from various departments given specific tasks to complete a given project. They create a budget to complete a job while monitoring the amount of money spent to ensure that overspending is avoided. They provide presentations to investors, business partners, and company executives to inform them about their progress and development. Project directors must have several years of experience and obtain at least a bachelor's degree in business economics or a related field to be hired.

What does a director of project management do?

Project management directors are the ones who develop and direct the strategic planning of different projects. The directors oversee the coordination of resources and personnel necessary for project completion. Typically, the directors require certification for project management. They develop a methodology for standardized project management in a balanced matrix organization. The directors should be equipped with skills in process improvement, customer service, infrastructure, portfolio management, and strategic initiatives. They should also have skills in communication, attention to detail, and leadership.

Project director vs director of project management salary

Project directors and directors of project management have different pay scales, as shown below.

Project DirectorDirector Of Project Management
Average salary$107,396$126,958
Salary rangeBetween $70,000 And $162,000Between $85,000 And $187,000
Highest paying CityLas Vegas, NVFoster City, CA
Highest paying stateNevadaCalifornia
Best paying companyFried FrankMeta
Best paying industryTechnologyReal Estate

Differences between project director and director of project management education

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

Project DirectorDirector Of Project Management
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 66%Bachelor's Degree, 71%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Project director vs director of project management demographics

Here are the differences between project directors' and directors of project management' demographics:

Project DirectorDirector Of Project Management
Average age4747
Gender ratioMale, 56.2% Female, 43.8%Male, 66.9% Female, 33.1%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 7.5% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.5% Asian, 8.8% White, 65.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%Black or African American, 7.5% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.5% Asian, 8.8% White, 65.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage10%10%

Differences between project director and director of project management duties and responsibilities

Project director example responsibilities.

  • Provide direction and guidance to Americas regional executives with all aspects of managing their regions in order to achieve business goals.
  • Manage commercial real estate, adaptive reuse development project.
  • Create, maintain, and manage software development project schedules according to PMI standards.
  • Manage customer service center issues spanning Americas, European, and Asian delivery centers.
  • Refine and develop strong/functional on-site OCI management teams to ensure project EPC objectives are achieve.
  • Manage offshore / onshore test teams through entire SDLC for major, minor and hotfix releases.
  • Show more

Director of project management example responsibilities.

  • Develop and manage RFP processes to procure third party products and services.
  • Manage & facilitate agile scrum masters, project managers and business analysts including providing direction, guidance and training.
  • Develop and lead divisional IP application strategy and review process to improve patent return on investment and alignment with product strategies.
  • Direct logistics and manufacturing process at Baltimore depot and revamp of product line to achieve desire mission-readiness capability.
  • Streamline and centralize usage of project management tools to manage dependencies and transparent delivery milestones for highly complex SaaS platforms
  • Lead scrum team through multiple development sprints for overall product improvement base on customer feedback and market research.
  • Show more

Project director vs director of project management skills

Common project director skills
  • Project Management, 20%
  • Oversight, 19%
  • Customer Satisfaction, 8%
  • HR, 5%
  • Adaptive, 5%
  • ERP, 4%
Common director of project management skills
  • Oversight, 9%
  • Risk Management, 6%
  • Resource Management, 5%
  • Business Objectives, 5%
  • Healthcare, 5%
  • Customer Satisfaction, 5%

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