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What does a project director do?

Updated January 8, 2025
5 min read
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.

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Project director responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real project director resumes:

  • 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.
  • Draft shop drawings in auto cad.
  • Maintain the lowest days sales outstanding in international portfolio.
  • Combine outsourcing and collocate resources following PMI's OPM3 maturity model.
  • Develop the business case with emphasis on NPV, IRR and ROI.
  • Work as team member on the Clozaril submission, which receive FDA approval.
  • Used SharePoint and Salesforce for scheduling, task management, and client support.
  • Perform QA on all phases of work and responsible for on site customer satisfaction.
  • Produce web advertising content compatible for multiple platforms, ie windows, mac, mobile.
  • Prepare oral and written reports on the interpretation of statistical results for NDA submissions to FDA.

Project director skills and personality traits

We calculated that 20% of Project Directors are proficient in Project Management, Oversight, and Customer Satisfaction.

We break down the percentage of Project Directors that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Project Management, 20%

    Developed a successful project management/implementation system.

  • Oversight, 19%

    Provided oversight to programs to ensure compliance with organizational standards, as well as regulatory criteria of core for developmentally disabled.

  • Customer Satisfaction, 8%

    Developed policies and procedures to ensure development and implementation of a high-quality program resulting in customer satisfaction and retention.

  • HR, 5%

    Project included HR and Finance Shared Services technology implementation and consolidation of business functions to centralized facility in Charlotte, NC.

  • Adaptive, 5%

    Recruited Episcopal clergy for this prestigious, continuing education project focusing on adaptive leadership.

  • ERP, 4%

    Determined and implemented disaster recovery and business continuity plan for ERP and supporting systems.

Common skills that a project director uses to do their job include "project management," "oversight," and "customer satisfaction." You can find details on the most important project director responsibilities below.

All project director skills

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Compare different project directors

Project director vs. Director, special projects

The primary responsibility of a director of special projects is to ensure the successful conclusion of construction-related projects. Special project directors lead, organize, and perform corporate projects outside their duties. They utilize project management, business process management, and change management disciplines for timely and cost-effective initiatives delivery. It is part of their responsibilities to collaborate with business leaders and entrepreneurs to perform corporate programs and initiatives. They also manage process enhancements and various special programs.

The annual salary of directors, special projects is $22,520 higher than the average salary of project directors.Even though project directors and directors, special projects are distinct careers, a few of the skills required for both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require project management, oversight, and erp in the day-to-day roles and responsibilities.

While similarities exist, there are also some differences between project directors and director, special projects. For instance, project director responsibilities require skills such as "customer satisfaction," "hr," "adaptive," and "excellent interpersonal." Whereas a director, special projects is skilled in "website content," "financial statements," "strategic direction," and "hipaa." This is part of what separates the two careers.

Directors, special projects tend to make the most money working in the manufacturing industry, where they earn an average salary of $130,125. In contrast, project directors make the biggest average salary, $106,707, in the technology industry.directors, special projects tend to reach similar levels of education than project directors. In fact, directors, special projects are 1.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.0% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Project director vs. Communications project manager

A communications project manager is in charge of overseeing the development of internal and external communication materials. Their responsibilities typically revolve around performing research and analysis to identify client or company needs, developing effective communication strategies, coordinating different teams to ensure the quality and accuracy of projects, setting objectives and goals, and managing schedules and budgets. Furthermore, as a manager, it is essential to lead and encourage the team to reach goals, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations, including its vision and mission.

A career as a communications project manager brings a lower average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a project director. In fact, communications project managers salary is $22,222 lower than the salary of project directors per year.Only some things about these jobs are the same. Take their skills, for example. Project directors and communications project managers both require similar skills like "project management," "hr," and "business development" to carry out their responsibilities.

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that project director responsibilities requires skills like "oversight," "customer satisfaction," "adaptive," and "erp." But a communications project manager might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "powerpoint," "web content," "status reports," and "sharepoint."

Communications project managers may earn a lower salary than project directors, but communications project managers earn the most pay in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $81,929. On the other hand, project directors receive higher pay in the technology industry, where they earn an average salary of $106,707.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Communications project managers tend to reach lower levels of education than project directors. In fact, they're 7.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Project director vs. Consultant/project manager

Consultants/project managers act as planners, leaders, and advisors in business enterprises. These professionals facilitate meetings and establish positive relationships with vendors, management, and clients. They make customer visits, maintain industry knowledge, procure third-party software and hardware, and deliver projects. It is also part of their duty to manage complex initiatives in an individual business unit or organization. Their skills include analytical, time and cost management, problem-solving, interpersonal skills, and proficiency in project management software.

On average scale, consultant/project managers bring in lower salaries than project directors. In fact, they earn a $6,642 lower salary per year.Using the responsibilities included on project directors and consultant/project managers resumes, we found that both professions have similar skill requirements, such as "project management," "customer satisfaction," and "hr.rdquo;

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from project director resumes include skills like "oversight," "adaptive," "excellent interpersonal," and "strategic thinking," whereas a consultant/project manager is more likely to list skills in "executive management," "manage project scope," "cash flow," and "scrum. "

Consultant/project managers make a very good living in the technology industry with an average annual salary of $107,463. On the other hand, project directors are paid the highest salary in the technology industry, with average annual pay of $106,707.Most consultant/project managers achieve a similar degree level compared to project directors. For example, they're 2.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 2.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Project director vs. Operations project manager

An operations project manager is responsible for monitoring the performance of the project team, ensuring that the operations meet the clients' standards and internal regulations with maximum productivity and efficiency. Operations project managers manage the department's budget and allocate materials and resources accurately, maintaining a record of expenses and costs forecasting. They coordinate with the clients, discussing project adjustments or additional tasks as needed, and lead project execution and deliverables by determining the team's needs and concerns, and enforcing strategic procedures.

Operations project managers average a lower salary than the annual salary of project directors. The difference is about $17,044 per year.While their salaries may vary, project directors and operations project managers both use similar skills to perform their duties. Resumes from both professions include skills like "project management," "oversight," and "customer satisfaction. "Each job also requires different skills to carry out their responsibilities. A project director uses "hr," "adaptive," "strategic thinking," and "financial management." Operations project managers are more likely to have duties that require skills in "business operations," "risk management," "process improvement," and "business process. "The finance industry tends to pay the highest salaries for operations project managers, with average annual pay of $90,596. Comparatively, the highest project director annual salary comes from the technology industry.In general, operations project managers hold lower degree levels compared to project directors. Operations project managers are 7.3% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 3.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of project director

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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