Senior director human resources vs human resources business partner

The differences between senior directors human resources and human resources business partners can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a senior director human resources and a human resources business partner. Additionally, a senior director human resources has an average salary of $148,930, which is higher than the $86,363 average annual salary of a human resources business partner.

The top three skills for a senior director human resources include performance management, employee engagement and SR. The most important skills for a human resources business partner are employee engagement, HRBP, and succession planning.

Senior director human resources vs human resources business partner overview

	Senior Director Human Resources	Human Resources Business Partner
Yearly salary	$148,930	$86,363
Hourly rate	$71.60	$41.52
Growth rate	7%	7%
Number of jobs	54,621	103,520
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 75%	Bachelor's Degree, 71%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	6	6

What does a senior director human resources do?

A Senior Director of Human Resource supervises all human resource operations and ensures that all of them are executed smoothly and effectively. They also supervise the work of HR personnel and provide guidance.

What does a human resources business partner do?

Human resource (HR) business partners' primary job is to ensure that business objectives are aligned with the management and employees within an organization. They typically focus more on developing HR strategy than implementing the company policies. They often work with individual business units, and their work is related to the company's current and future success. HR business partners are also responsible for providing performance management guidance, developing contract terms for new employees, transfers, and promotions, and providing advice on business units.

Senior director human resources vs human resources business partner salary

Senior directors human resources and human resources business partners have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Senior Director Human Resources	Human Resources Business Partner
Average salary	$148,930	$86,363
Salary range	Between $106,000 And $207,000	Between $62,000 And $119,000
Highest paying City	Seattle, WA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Washington	California
Best paying company	New London Hospital	Ropes & Gray
Best paying industry	Telecommunication	Finance

Differences between senior director human resources and human resources business partner education

There are a few differences between a senior director human resources and a human resources business partner in terms of educational background:

	Senior Director Human Resources	Human Resources Business Partner
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 75%	Bachelor's Degree, 71%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Northwestern University	Northwestern University

Senior director human resources vs human resources business partner demographics

Here are the differences between senior directors human resources' and human resources business partners' demographics:

	Senior Director Human Resources	Human Resources Business Partner
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 45.1% Female, 54.9%	Male, 28.1% Female, 71.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.7% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 11.1% Asian, 5.7% White, 70.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 7.7% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 11.1% Asian, 5.7% White, 70.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	18%	18%

Differences between senior director human resources and human resources business partner duties and responsibilities

Senior director human resources example responsibilities.

Lead the complex migration to a new HRIS system to house policies, forms, and benefit information.
Manage and publish several cost-savings models for Sr. level management.
Ensure compliance with legislate requirements such as EEO, FLSA, FMLA and ADA.
Implement an HRIS system that meet all applicable labor and employment requirements at the federal and state levels.
Investigate and respond to formal internal and external EEO complaints and disciplinary cases for the prevention of further legal actions.
Project management responsibility for transition of payroll and benefit function from ADP to PeopleSoft during acquisition.

Human resources business partner example responsibilities.

Manage the ACA with regard to variable hour employees to avoid fines and penalties.
Lead effort to build safety awareness and implement plans to improve working conditions while adhering to OSHA requirements.
Manage and audit payroll ensuring accurate timekeeping, processing adjustments, and investigating payroll discrepancies.
Manage HRIS system migration to ExponentHR technology platform with full employee/manager self-service eliminating multiple homegrown systems and one service provider.
Report to the SVP of human resources.
Revamp unemployment claims process and increase HRBP completion rate and decrease dollar loss due to incomplete and fraudulent claims.

Senior director human resources vs human resources business partner skills

Common senior director human resources skills

Performance Management, 11%
Employee Engagement, 6%
SR, 5%
HRIS, 5%
Workforce Planning, 5%
Organizational Development, 5%

Common human resources business partner skills

Employee Engagement, 8%
HRBP, 6%
Succession Planning, 6%
Workforce Planning, 5%
Business Objectives, 4%
HRIS, 4%

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Senior Director Human Resources
Senior Director Human Resources vs Human Resources Business Partner

Updated January 8, 2025

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