Senior account director vs account manager

The differences between senior account directors and account managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-8 years to become both a senior account director and an account manager. Additionally, a senior account director has an average salary of $122,004, which is higher than the $68,535 average annual salary of an account manager.

The top three skills for a senior account director include healthcare, account management and business development. The most important skills for an account manager are customer service, account management, and healthcare.

Senior account director vs account manager overview

	Senior Account Director	Account Manager
Yearly salary	$122,004	$68,535
Hourly rate	$58.66	$32.95
Growth rate	5%	5%
Number of jobs	122,593	152,261
Job satisfaction	-	4
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 79%	Bachelor's Degree, 70%
Average age	46	46
Years of experience	8	8

What does a senior account director do?

A senior account director is responsible for managing client accounts and negotiating contracts with new customers by selling goods and services, following the demands of current market trends. Senior account directors work closely with the marketing and sales team to track the products' sales performance and develop efficient promotional campaigns for various media platforms. They help in publishing digital content that would attract the target audience and increase brand awareness and ask for recommendations from the team for product pitches.

What does an account manager do?

Account managers are employees who act as the bridge between the company they represent and the client of the company. They are assigned to handle specific clients so that the company will be able to tailor-fit any product or service according to the clients' requirements. Account managers are responsible for maintaining a harmonious relationship between the two parties by ensuring that any agreement made is amenable to both the company and the client. They are also responsible for ensuring that the company will be able to provide the needs of the client within any limitation that the client may have. Account managers also ensure that the company's reputation and well-being are always considered in any dealings.

Senior account director vs account manager salary

Senior account directors and account managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Senior Account Director	Account Manager
Average salary	$122,004	$68,535
Salary range	Between $85,000 And $174,000	Between $42,000 And $110,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	Washington
Best paying company	Hearst	NVIDIA
Best paying industry	Professional	Technology

Differences between senior account director and account manager education

There are a few differences between a senior account director and an account manager in terms of educational background:

	Senior Account Director	Account Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 79%	Bachelor's Degree, 70%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Southern California	University of Southern California

Senior account director vs account manager demographics

Here are the differences between senior account directors' and account managers' demographics:

	Senior Account Director	Account Manager
Average age	46	46
Gender ratio	Male, 58.1% Female, 41.9%	Male, 54.8% Female, 45.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 4.1% White, 78.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 4.1% White, 78.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between senior account director and account manager duties and responsibilities

Senior account director example responsibilities.

Supervise insurance billing maintenance and review all manage care contractual adjustments to ensure patients are billed correctly prior to self-pay transfer.
Complete oversight of four grants.
Demonstrate ROI with extensive post-program outcomes reports, as well as effective status reports, program updates, and evaluation summaries.
Establish a governance and oversight model which become standard practice to monitor delivery performance of contract services.
Develop detailed proprietary LTV, ROI, forecasting and segmentation models to provide inform investment and cost efficiency recommendations to client.
Tailor and deliver PowerPoint presentations to perspective clients at both executive and line manager level to present capabilities and gain business.

Account manager example responsibilities.

Manage financial departments with responsibility for managing payroll, bank re-consolidations, bank deposits, budgeting and cost control.
Manage $4 million territory encompassing three Mid-Atlantic states.
Manage new business and renewals for leading Saas legal solution.
Manage an inside sales territory of multiple states with Avaya technology solutions.
Negotiate and manage all contracts and pricing for IDN's in the territory.
Manage customers' accounts utilizing laptop and internet base CMS reporting software and ADM field guide.

Senior account director vs account manager skills

Common senior account director skills

Healthcare, 15%
Account Management, 14%
Business Development, 8%
Client Facing, 8%
Project Management, 7%
Digital Marketing, 5%

Common account manager skills

Customer Service, 19%
Account Management, 8%
Healthcare, 6%
CRM, 6%
Product Knowledge, 5%
PowerPoint, 5%

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Senior Account Director
Senior Account Director vs Account Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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