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The differences between senior planning analysts and planning directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a senior planning analyst, becoming a planning director takes usually requires 8-10 years. Additionally, a planning director has an average salary of $131,978, which is higher than the $79,238 average annual salary of a senior planning analyst.
The top three skills for a senior planning analyst include powerpoint, project management and SR. The most important skills for a planning director are project management, financial analysis, and business planning.
| Senior Planning Analyst | Planning Director | |
| Yearly salary | $79,238 | $131,978 |
| Hourly rate | $38.10 | $63.45 |
| Growth rate | 11% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 84,455 | 51,861 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Average age | 44 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 10 |
A senior planning analyst specializes in developing business plans and marketing strategies to raise brand awareness and improve business operations. Their responsibilities typically revolve around performing market research and analysis to identify new business opportunities and company needs, determining the strengths and weaknesses of existing processes to find areas needing improvement, analyzing data, and recommending solutions to optimize business procedures. Furthermore, as a senior planning analyst, it is essential to lead and serve as a mentor to junior analysts in the joint effort to reach goals, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
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 planning analysts and planning directors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Planning Analyst | Planning Director | |
| Average salary | $79,238 | $131,978 |
| Salary range | Between $61,000 And $102,000 | Between $90,000 And $192,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | New York |
| Best paying company | Citi | Exelixis |
| Best paying industry | Retail | Professional |
There are a few differences between a senior planning analyst and a planning director in terms of educational background:
| Senior Planning Analyst | Planning Director | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | University of Georgia |
Here are the differences between senior planning analysts' and planning directors' demographics:
| Senior Planning Analyst | Planning Director | |
| Average age | 44 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 59.0% Female, 41.0% | Male, 66.7% Female, 33.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 8.9% Asian, 13.3% White, 64.9% 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 Percentage | 12% | 10% |