How To Become A Senior Executive: What It Is and Career Path

What is a senior executive and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

A senior executive is a high-ranking individual within an organization who is involved in major decision-making processes.

Senior executives are typically responsible for managing individual departments or divisions within their company and ensuring that they are in alignment with corporate strategies and plans for growth. They may also be responsible for overseeing the work of department heads who manage smaller teams of employees.

Senior executives often have extensive experience and training in their industry. They may have worked in lower-level management or worked in different departments and roles within the industry to gain experience. They need to have effective communication skills as well as strategic planning abilities.

While not all senior executives need to be tech whizzes, they need to have a good understanding of the technology their company uses so that they can make informed decisions about its future direction. Problem-solving skills are also essential in this role.

An important soft skill that all senior executives should have is time management. Time management will help them to plan and execute their tasks within their required time frame. This will also allow them to prioritize their work accordingly.

Most senior executive positions require a bachelor's degree, but many companies prefer candidates who have a master's degree. A senior executive's education should include courses in business, finance, accounting, economics, marketing, and management.

ScoreSenior ExecutiveUS Average

Salary

7.7

Avg. Salary $104,507

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

3.6

Growth rate -8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.40%

Asian 5.00%

Black or African American 7.62%

Hispanic or Latino 11.22%

Unknown 4.80%

White 70.97%

Gender

female 42.56%

male 57.44%

Age - 51

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 51

Stress level

3.6

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity level

5.7

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.9

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a senior executive

Explore senior executive education requirements

Most common senior executive degrees

Bachelor's

62.2 %

Master's

21.8 %

Associate

6.7 %

Start to develop specific senior executive skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	17.27%
Project Management	8.10%
SR	8.00%
Healthcare	7.45%
Human Resources	6.69%

Complete relevant senior executive training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New senior executives learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a senior executive based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real senior executive resumes.

Research senior executive duties and responsibilities

Work with other team leads for integration of the software for deployment to QA area.
Manage releases to multiple prod and non-prod environments using HPSD tool base in ITIL standards.
Manage vendor selection, purchasing, budgeting, and asset management ensuring positive ROI on capital and expense dollars.
Manage teaching hospitals and non-profit community healthcare institutions pharmaceutical supply chain operations (end-to-end services).

Get senior executive experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a senior executive. The most common roles before becoming a senior executive include executive, account executive team lead and internship.

Prepare your senior executive resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior executive resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a senior executive resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable senior executive resume templates

Build a professional senior executive resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your senior executive resume.