How To Become A Spa Director: What It Is and Career Path

What is a spa director and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Behind the successful operations of a spa is a spa director overseeing all aspects of managing the business. Aside from managing the day-to-day operations of the spa, they are responsible for managing employees, attending to various employee or customer issues, ensuring that all staff members follow the spa's policies, and monitoring equipment and inventory.

Other duties of a spa director may include contributing to growth and development plans, creating facility operations manuals, addressing financial discrepancies, and performing daily walkthroughs of the facility to ensure that everything is in order. Some spa directors may also perform clerical tasks, such as answering phones, setting up appointments, and updating client databases.

Many spas require at least a bachelor's degree in hospitality management, business, or another relevant field for this position. Apart from that, spas look for individuals who are great leaders with strong skills in management, organization, and customer service. Having strong problem-solving and decision-making skills is also a huge advantage.

A spa director typically works in the office area of the spa, but they also frequently go around the facility or may work at the front desk. For this management role, spa directors can earn around $21,000 to $55,000 a year, depending on the facility and its location.

ScoreSpa DirectorUS Average

Salary

3.7

Avg. Salary $47,024

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.9

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.24%

Asian 5.13%

Black or African American 12.23%

Hispanic or Latino 15.87%

Unknown 4.62%

White 60.91%

Gender

female 84.20%

male 15.80%

Age - 44

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 - 44

Stress level

7.9

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.8

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

8.1

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a spa director

Explore spa director education requirements

Most common spa director degrees

Bachelor's

55.4 %

Associate

19.3 %

Master's

7.8 %

Start to develop specific spa director skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	18.47%
Reservations	8.07%
Front Desk	6.61%
Guest Satisfaction	6.24%
Spa Services	6.05%

Complete relevant spa director training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New spa directors 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 spa director based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real spa director resumes.

Research spa director duties and responsibilities

Manage outside appointment bookings which include traveling, security, POS systems, equipment storage & maintenance.
Ensure routine maintenance of all spa equipment are kept along with the highest level of cleanliness throughout spa.
Produce all event materials and handle reservations.
Monitor inventory, coordinate purchasing and process payroll.

Get spa director experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a spa director. The most common roles before becoming a spa director include massage therapist, general manager team lead and spa manager.

Prepare your spa director resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your spa director 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 spa director resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable spa director resume templates

Build a professional spa director 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 spa director resume.