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Senior project director vs junior project manager

The differences between senior project directors and junior project managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a senior project director has an average salary of $99,266, which is higher than the $60,672 average annual salary of a junior project manager.

The top three skills for a senior project director include project management, business operations and product development. The most important skills for a junior project manager are project management, sharepoint, and project scope.

Senior project director vs junior project manager overview

Senior Project DirectorJunior Project Manager
Yearly salary$99,266$60,672
Hourly rate$47.72$29.17
Growth rate--8%
Number of jobs86,779116,530
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 71%Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Average age4747
Years of experience--

What does a senior project director do?

A senior project director spearheads and oversees projects in a company, aiming for smooth workflow and significant results. Their responsibilities typically include setting goals, establishing guidelines and timelines, managing staff, coordinating managers, liaising with external business partners, and monitoring the progress of all operations, resolving issues should any arise. They must also produce progress reports and present them to the executives. Moreover, as a senior project director, it is essential to lead and encourage staff to reach goals while promoting the company's policies and regulations.

What does a junior project manager do?

The junior project manager plans to organize and direct project-related operations in the company. Junior project managers define the scope of projects. Their duties include resource planning, developing schedules, documentation, time estimation, and activity sequencing. They should develop communication skills, risk management, and the ability to motivate, risk management, and business development and management. Orientation to detail, leadership skills, and knowledge of business are also necessary for this job.

Senior project director vs junior project manager salary

Senior project directors and junior project managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Senior Project DirectorJunior Project Manager
Average salary$99,266$60,672
Salary rangeBetween $67,000 And $146,000Between $36,000 And $100,000
Highest paying CitySeattle, WASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateAlaskaConnecticut
Best paying companyAmazonCredit Suisse
Best paying industryTechnologyTechnology

Differences between senior project director and junior project manager education

There are a few differences between a senior project director and a junior project manager in terms of educational background:

Senior Project DirectorJunior Project Manager
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 71%Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Senior project director vs junior project manager demographics

Here are the differences between senior project directors' and junior project managers' demographics:

Senior Project DirectorJunior Project Manager
Average age4747
Gender ratioMale, 58.5% Female, 41.5%Male, 52.3% Female, 47.7%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 7.5% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.6% Asian, 8.9% White, 65.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%Black or African American, 7.5% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.6% Asian, 8.9% White, 65.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage10%10%

Differences between senior project director and junior project manager duties and responsibilities

Senior project director example responsibilities.

  • Lead the team through the technical and commercial evaluation of bids and selection of the LSTK EPC contractor.
  • Manage a wide variety of quantitative and qualitative consumer insights studies in the automotive, healthcare, and consumer products industries.
  • Manage content enter into Salesforce.
  • Manage multiple research databases, perform data entry and conduct cost-effectiveness statistical analysis using SPSS.
  • Manage qualitative projects from study design through analysis for consumer package goods, business-to-business, healthcare and pharmaceutical research projects.
  • Develop and maintain SharePoint InfoPath forms.
  • Show more

Junior project manager example responsibilities.

  • Lead the RFP process; successfully acquiring key service providers for each program site
  • Develop and manage key partnerships to promote public health messages of multiple campaigns for CDC and NIH.
  • Plan and manage a series of short films about international students and their experiences in the UK.
  • Have got appreciations from clients and onsite leads constantly for the deadlines meet, and work done in general.
  • Collaborate and lead development of SharePoint sites and successfully complete all testing phases with developer.
  • Manage a SalesForce data migration to consolidate ValueClick and GrayStripe accounts, contracts and documentation.
  • Show more

Senior project director vs junior project manager skills

Common senior project director skills
  • Project Management, 24%
  • Business Operations, 17%
  • Product Development, 12%
  • Client Satisfaction, 6%
  • Strategic Direction, 5%
  • Business Development, 5%
Common junior project manager skills
  • Project Management, 27%
  • SharePoint, 6%
  • Project Scope, 5%
  • Project Documentation, 4%
  • Microsoft Project, 3%
  • Jira, 3%

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