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Job outlook for senior directors of business development in the United States
Senior director of business development job growth summary. After extensive research, interviews, and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
The projected senior director of business development job growth rate is 10% from 2018-2028.
About 33,700 new jobs for senior directors of business development are projected over the next decade.
Senior director of business development salaries have increased 8% for senior directors of business development in the last 5 years.
There are over 38,272 senior directors of business development currently employed in the United States.
There are 165,086 active senior director of business development job openings in the US.
The average senior director of business development salary is $151,656.
Are senior director of business development jobs in demand?
Senior director of business development job and salary trends over time
Senior director of business development jobs over time
Senior director of business development job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 38,272 | 0.01% |
| 2020 | 36,908 | 0.01% |
| 2019 | 36,291 | 0.01% |
| 2018 | 33,292 | 0.01% |
| 2017 | 30,993 | 0.01% |
Average senior director of business development salary over time
Senior director of business development salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $151,656 | $72.91 | +3.9% |
| 2025 | $145,981 | $70.18 | +1.9% |
| 2024 | $143,250 | $68.87 | +1.6% |
| 2023 | $141,053 | $67.81 | +0.8% |
| 2022 | $139,933 | $67.28 | +1.9% |
Senior director of business development jobs by state
Most common states for senior directors of business development
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 593 | 85% |
| 2 | South Dakota | 869,666 | 441 | 51% |
| 3 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 2,253 | 40% |
| 4 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 397 | 38% |
| 5 | Iowa | 3,145,711 | 1,179 | 37% |
| 6 | Arkansas | 3,004,279 | 1,083 | 36% |
| 7 | Nebraska | 1,920,076 | 638 | 33% |
| 8 | Alaska | 739,795 | 245 | 33% |
| 9 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 2,167 | 32% |
| 10 | Kansas | 2,913,123 | 802 | 28% |
| 11 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 296 | 28% |
| 12 | Vermont | 623,657 | 177 | 28% |
| 13 | Wyoming | 579,315 | 154 | 27% |
| 14 | New Mexico | 2,088,070 | 547 | 26% |
| 15 | North Dakota | 755,393 | 196 | 26% |
| 16 | Wisconsin | 5,795,483 | 1,442 | 25% |
| 17 | Missouri | 6,113,532 | 1,444 | 24% |
| 18 | Alabama | 4,874,747 | 1,183 | 24% |
| 19 | Oklahoma | 3,930,864 | 927 | 24% |
| 20 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 940 | 23% |
Most common cities for senior directors of business development
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Hollywood | 2 | 5% | $164,632 |
| 2 | Hallandale Beach | 1 | 3% | $142,627 |
| 3 | Mooresville | 1 | 3% | $128,970 |
| 4 | Bethesda | 1 | 2% | $161,445 |
| 5 | Parsippany-Troy Hills | 1 | 2% | $149,888 |
| 6 | Pensacola | 1 | 2% | $145,331 |
| 7 | Boston | 6 | 1% | $149,148 |
| 8 | Huntsville | 1 | 1% | $121,134 |
| 9 | Atlanta | 2 | 0% | $131,520 |
| 10 | Chicago | 2 | 0% | $131,206 |
| 11 | Charlotte | 1 | 0% | $128,904 |
| 12 | Fremont | 1 | 0% | $171,633 |
| 13 | Glendale | 1 | 0% | $164,685 |
| 14 | New York | 1 | 0% | $144,178 |
| 15 | Raleigh | 1 | 0% | $130,457 |
Senior Director Of Business Development job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of senior director of business development experts
Drexel University
Portland State University
Washington College
Wayne State University
Purdue University Northwest
University of Saint Mary
Towson University
The Pennsylvania State University
Auburn University-Montgomery
Delta State University
Wayland Baptist University, Anchorage
University of Virginia
Augsburg University
Roger Williams University
What Senior Director Of Business Development skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Andrew Spicer: If you know another language and have deep knowledge of foreign markets, then a good strategy is to deliberately seek out multinational companies that would value these international capabilities. This returns to advice to seek out companies with a strong international presence and an interest in hiring and fostering international expertise.
Parfait Kouassi PhD.
Associate Teaching ProfessorDrexel University
Bilingual, Multilingual, And Multicultural Education
What general advice would you give to a Senior Director Of Business Development?
Parfait Kouassi PhD.: In the next 3-5 years, bilingual and multicultural skills will likely become as indispensable as having access to transportation. Just as individuals without access to a personal vehicle can rely on public transit or ridesharing services, those lacking multilingual abilities will find themselves at a severe disadvantage in their careers. The world is becoming increasingly interconnected, and the ability to communicate across languages and navigate different cultural contexts will be essential for professional growth, success, and mobility.
What will help Senior Directors Of Business Development increase their earning potential?
Parfait Kouassi PhD.: My advice would be to embrace these valuable competencies as a competitive edge. Research shows that individuals with multilingual and multicultural backgrounds possess enhanced cognitive abilities, including improved working memory and mental flexibility for solving problems in innovative ways. They should actively seek out opportunities that allow them to leverage these unique strengths and pursue their passions while making meaningful contributions to their chosen field.
Becky Sanchez
Executive Director of Career & Academic ServicesPortland State University
The School of Business
What skills will help Senior Directors Of Business Development earn the most?
Becky Sanchez: -The ability to concisely and effectively communicate your point
-Negotiation skills
-Understanding of data analysis and how to leverage data to do your job more effectively
-Leadership skills and an interest in managing others
Dr. Michael Harvey
Provost and Dean, John Toll Professor of Business ManagemenWashington College
Business Department
What skills stand out on Senior Director Of Business Development resumes?
Dr. Michael Harvey: Above all, good Business Developers must have excellent communication, interpersonal, and negotiation skills. Their work centers on meeting prospective customers and building relationships with them. Their communication skills, in particular, must include good listening skills so that they can truly understand customer needs.
What skills will help Senior Directors Of Business Development earn the most?
Dr. Michael Harvey: Quantitative skills and computer coding skills are in the highest demand and shortest supply-and people who can combine them with strong, soft skills end up going the furthest.
Attila Yaprak Ph.D.
Professor of Marketing and International Business, Director, Doctoral ProgramsWayne State University
Mike Ilitch School of Business
What skills will help Senior Directors Of Business Development earn the most?
Attila Yaprak Ph.D.: Portfolio of the above three with different weights depending on context.
Pat Obi Ph.D.
White Lodging Professor of Finance, Director, Executive MBA ProgramPurdue University Northwest
Finance Department
What hard/technical skills are most important for Senior Directors Of Business Development?
Pat Obi Ph.D.: Data analysis and presentation skills - spreadsheet, statistical software, presentation software.
Dr. Mark Harvey Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Director of Graduate and Undergraduate Programs, Coordinator of All-University Honors ProgramUniversity of Saint Mary
Division of Business and Information Technologies (DBiT)
What hard/technical skills are most important for Senior Directors Of Business Development?
Dr. Mark Harvey Ph.D.: Familiarity with software-basic windows packages, particularly MS Word and Excel. Candidates should not be afraid of quantitative data analysis. Analytics are necessary to figuring out what your business is doing and how it can grow. Also, familiarity with whatever social media platforms are used in that industry can be very important.
What skills will help Senior Directors Of Business Development earn the most?
Dr. Mark Harvey Ph.D.: One consideration is, does the position pay commission? If so, the soft skills listed above are extremely important because the more you apply those skills, the more likely you are to grow your business.
When a manager is not on commission, there's little correlation between skills and pay while doing the job. The employer will hire you at a given salary level, and it is your job to negotiate to the best position. Once they have chosen you-that's the moment when you have the most leverage. You will never get a raise that is as substantial as what you might be able to ask for upon hire. After that, most raises are not going to be tied mechanically to performance and skills. Your next chance at a raise will be when you move or are promoted to a new position. Thus, those soft skills can affect your ability to negotiate.
I will repeat a previous theme: education and experience are probably more important than skills in terms of making more money. An employer can't really tell what your skills are from your resume. Just because you say you have a skill doesn't mean that you really do. They can reasonably guess that somebody with a degree is responsible enough to have accomplished something big. Somebody who makes it through a graduate program is probably very good at what they know. And somebody who has been in the industry and/or in a similar job is more likely to be able to walk in with little orientation and know what they are doing. Employers take risks on employees and hope that they can deliver. Thus, with more education and more experience, you are able to apply for higher-level jobs, which usually come with higher salaries.
What skills stand out on Senior Director Of Business Development resumes?
Dr. Mark Harvey Ph.D.: Resumes are hard. It is very difficult to predict what any employer is looking for on any resume. The "skills" section of a resume is probably not the first thing most employers are looking at. The first consideration is probably education. Those with a bachelor's degree will be sorted first in fields-such as those who have business degrees, or particularly sales and marketing majors. Those with MBAs will be placed on the top. Those who have MBAs and marketing concentrations will likely be valued the most. The second consideration would probably be experience. Someone with several years of experience in business development or sales and marketing will be moved to the top. Someone with a bachelor's degree who has a lot of experience might beat out a fresh MBA. However, MBA plus experience beats almost everything. Someone with an MBA going for an entry-level position with little experience needed will likely beat out all bachelor challengers. For new graduates, getting some kind of internship in sales and marketing can differentiate them from those who do not.
Most hiring managers will probably assume that somebody who has sales and marketing education and/or experience probably has the skills necessary to do the job. An interviewer may probe on specific skills. I'll comment more specifically on other kinds of skills below, but it's also fair to say that a candidate's soft skills should shine in the interview. Simply saying that you have certain skills on a resume doesn't mean that you actually have them.
I think that the best thing a candidate can do is to research the company they hope to work for and tailor their resume to that employer. What does the business do? What kinds of things do you think that development manager is going to do in that particular industry? How do your skills as a candidate match what you guess they're looking for? The more you customize your resume, the better chances you have of resonating with the company. Employers are impressed when you already know something about the job and the industry.
What soft skills should all Senior Directors Of Business Development possess?
Dr. Mark Harvey Ph.D.: First, critical and creative thinking. Employers value problem solvers. A Business Development Managers' problem usually is finding growth opportunities. Candidates need to learn to take the initiative to figure out how to solve problems like those.
Second, writing. The best employees know how to communicate in writing. More and more communication occurs through email and other forms of social media and apps, and as such, this skill is absolutely critical. You don't need to be a creative writing genius, but you do need to know how to write in a professional tone, present your ideas in an organized way, get to the point, and avoid errors. There is a direct line between a student's ability to write an academic essay with a clear thesis and an employee's ability to write a good email or proposal. If you can't do those things, then you risk embarrassment and possibly limited options for promotion.
Third, speaking. The American business world discriminates against introverts-sometimes at their own peril. Everyone needs to know how to give a quality speech, but more importantly, you need to sound confident and assertive in a board room during meetings. You need to be confident in front of clients. Fake it if you have to. The way you present yourself is absolutely critical.
Fourth, social skills. You need to be friendly. Get to know co-workers and clients. Find out what they like and show an interest. Find common ground. Your undergraduate degree hopefully exposed you to a wide diversity of topics you may have thought were irrelevant at some point. Now is the time to remember that stuff and use it to connect with people. Nearly everything you learned will have some application someday. It will help you connect with others. In addition, put away your cell phone when you are at work or on social occasions. To some people, a preoccupation with a cell phone communicates a lack of interest in the person you are with. It can alienate bosses, co-workers, and clients.
Erin Steffes Ph.D.
Department Chair and ProfessorTowson University
Marketing Department
What hard/technical skills are most important for Senior Directors Of Business Development?
Erin Steffes Ph.D.: As a science and an art, marketing utilizes both soft skills and technical skills on a daily basis. While some technologies are industry-specific, having an understanding and basic mastery of data analysis, statistics, data visualization, digital marketing, marketing research, and customer relationship management will position a candidate well.
What skills will help Senior Directors Of Business Development earn the most?
Erin Steffes Ph.D.: At the end of the day, firms want to hire candidates that will contribute value over the long term and are adaptable to change. Demonstrating that you have the skills to do the job at hand while signaling that you are willing to contribute to the team is critical in landing that first job. One of the most important lessons for a job candidate or new hire is to eliminate the notion that something "is not my job." Your new career will give you many opportunities to create value for your customers, your colleagues, or the firm as a whole, many of which may lie beyond your immediate scope of responsibility.
James Wilkerson Ph.D.
Business Program Coordinator, Project and Supply Chain Management Program CoordinatorThe Pennsylvania State University
Business Department
What skills stand out on Senior Director Of Business Development resumes?
James Wilkerson Ph.D.: Skills, experience, knowledge, and abilities that matter especially strongly include target market analysis (including market research skills and knowledge), product/service positioning within competitive field, project work or coordination with sales staff, major client relationship management, and enough general business and industry knowledge to be able to relate business development to operational/production realities.
What soft skills should all Senior Directors Of Business Development possess?
James Wilkerson Ph.D.: Verbal skills (both speaking and writing), negotiation skills, unfailing honesty, ability to empathize with clients' wants, and teamwork skills suitable for working collaboratively with sales and operations staff.
What hard/technical skills are most important for Senior Directors Of Business Development?
James Wilkerson Ph.D.: Spreadsheet (Excel) skills (including graph production from data), basic statistical knowledge, and online information search skills.
What skills will help Senior Directors Of Business Development earn the most?
James Wilkerson Ph.D.: Skill at rapidly learning market trends, relating business development to product development, and persuading major prospective clients when brought in to help with closing sales. Bottom line: the business development manager must be on the cutting edge of new market conditions and new business opportunities to help the firm organically grow its sales, especially in new markets or product/service lines.
What will help Senior Directors Of Business Development increase their earning potential?
Jeff Bates: The same thing will help people in any field continue to increase their earning potential as in the past. If an employee can find a way to differentiate themselves in a positive manner and make themselves valuable or even invaluable to their company, they should see increased earnings potential. Learning a foreign language, computer skills such as Excel, good math skills, and the ability to communicate will prove to be extremely important in advancing one's career.
What are the biggest trends we'll see in the Senior Director Of Business Development job market given the pandemic?
Lisa Cooley: Obviously, we are seeing a lot more flexibility in terms of virtual work. A lot of the jobs I have seen allow for their employees to work remotely (at least a portion of the time).
What will help Senior Directors Of Business Development increase their earning potential?
Dr. Mary Rydesky: What will help people in your field increase their earning potential? In most fields, developing a portfolio of projects has high potential. For employers, concrete evidence of experience is a strong influencer when selecting new employees. Any student who can complete an internship or who works while in school has an advantage in this regard. If I can ascertain that an applicant has the knowledge, skill, and abilities as tested by measurable experience, I am not only more interested in the hiring potential, I am likely to be competitive in salary offers.
What's a good job out of college for Senior Directors Of Business Development?
Ira Harris Ph.D.: It's important to keep in mind that for most graduates, their first job out of college will most certainly not be their last, so students should think of an early or entry-level job as a continuation of their skill building and academic enrichment. By identifying a portfolio that contains tasks and duties that will lead to expertise and increase their marketability, students can prepare themselves to ladder into the next phase(s) of a career trajectory. A job that allows for geographic flexibility, varied work hours, and application and expansion of technical acumen should be a safe bet. These components cross a variety of industries, so students shouldn't feel inhibited or limited to certain functions. Over the last several years, we've noticed a drastic decline in jobs that require employees to be consistently hands-on and "sit in one space."
George Dierberger
MBA Director, Associate ProfessorAugsburg University
Business Administration
What Senior Director Of Business Development skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
George Dierberger: Being fluent in multiple languages (written and oral); excel skills; having the experience of living abroad for a semester.
What soft skills should all Senior Directors Of Business Development possess?
Geraldo Matos: First and foremost, I think it's resiliency and adaptability. Need to work remotely? Okay, we've done that. Need to change strategy on the fly due to the pandemic? We can do that, too! Being up for the next challenge is critical.
Another critical soft skill is resourcefulness. Figure it out. Your boss will probably be willing to help you, but she also likely has a lot on her plate. Not stopping at the first hurdle (or second or third) you encounter, but rather taking the initiative and trying to figure out how to solve the issue/problem will earn you great respect, and at some point, more responsibility.
Finally, while it's not really a soft skill, I also think having a bent towards being a lifetime learner is important. Your degree is a critical foundation. The marketing world, however, is changing at an ever-increasing rate. Young graduates must understand that they'll need to stay committed to keeping up with the latest technology throughout their career.