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Senior director vs planning director

The differences between senior directors and planning directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 8-10 years to become both a senior director and a planning director. Additionally, a senior director has an average salary of $152,047, which is higher than the $131,978 average annual salary of a planning director.

The top three skills for a senior director include healthcare, analytics and patients. The most important skills for a planning director are project management, financial analysis, and business planning.

Senior director vs planning director overview

Senior DirectorPlanning Director
Yearly salary$152,047$131,978
Hourly rate$73.10$63.45
Growth rate10%10%
Number of jobs131,87151,861
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 69%Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Average age3939
Years of experience1010

What does a senior director do?

Senior directors are the top management who manage the overall corporate structure of a brand. These executives take responsibility for the planning, operations, and profitability of the company. They direct and control all the functions of businesses. Their jobs cover the advertising, marketing, sales, and promotions of products and services. They are the people behind the tactical and strategic management of every asset of the enterprise through different programs.

What does a planning director do?

Planning Directors are members of the executive team or the top management of a company. They oversee the company's plans and the strategies involved in reaching company goals. They manage the resources of the company by reviewing the budget and by overseeing human resources activities. They ensure that the company works toward its goals and that the company follows through with its plans. That being said, Planning Directors do not necessarily police the company's actions, especially if it deviates from the original plans. Instead, they steer the company towards the fulfillment of such plans. If the plan is no longer viable, they should be flexible enough to pursue new plans to achieve their goals still.

Senior director vs planning director salary

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

Senior DirectorPlanning Director
Average salary$152,047$131,978
Salary rangeBetween $105,000 And $219,000Between $90,000 And $192,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaNew York
Best paying companyAppleExelixis
Best paying industryPharmaceuticalProfessional

Differences between senior director and planning director education

There are a few differences between a senior director and a planning director in terms of educational background:

Senior DirectorPlanning Director
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 69%Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of GeorgiaUniversity of Georgia

Senior director vs planning director demographics

Here are the differences between senior directors' and planning directors' demographics:

Senior DirectorPlanning Director
Average age3939
Gender ratioMale, 66.6% Female, 33.4%Male, 66.7% Female, 33.3%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage10%10%

Differences between senior director and planning director duties and responsibilities

Senior director example responsibilities.

  • Lead the expansion for support of public sector business in EMEA and APAC.
  • Create and deliver pitch decks, while being task with managing RFP responses.
  • Organize scrum certification training, lead departmental reorganization around scrum teams and act as scrum coach.
  • Lead assessment, design, and implementation of operational governance capabilities for the EMEA & ASIA regions.
  • Manage ongoing ITIL certification program for UK operations as required by government regulation.
  • Help project managers understand financial responsibilities and lead them in increase product delivery and ROI.
  • Show more

Planning director example responsibilities.

  • Manage customized portfolio, define product strategy, POS and shipping forecast, and promotional plans.
  • Develop and lead marketing program to promote HMO enrollment and hospital product line services to 55k beneficiaries.
  • Champion and lead the selection and implementation of Hyperion Essbase business intelligence software.
  • Lead central team summarizing and prioritizing all DOD opportunities, enabling more efficient and effective resource allocation across several program departments.
  • Utilize ETO software for assessment and tracking.
  • Implement new CRM - ClientBase, investigate alternate consortium relationships.
  • Show more

Senior director vs planning director skills

Common senior director skills
  • Healthcare, 6%
  • Analytics, 6%
  • Patients, 6%
  • Portfolio, 5%
  • Oversight, 5%
  • Project Management, 5%
Common planning director skills
  • Project Management, 14%
  • Financial Analysis, 7%
  • Business Planning, 6%
  • Data Analysis, 5%
  • Customer Service, 5%
  • Planning Process, 5%

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