Specialty department supervisor vs department manager

The differences between specialty department supervisors and department managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a specialty department supervisor and a department manager. Additionally, a department manager has an average salary of $67,160, which is higher than the $33,288 average annual salary of a specialty department supervisor.

The top three skills for a specialty department supervisor include customer service, product knowledge and sales associates. The most important skills for a department manager are inventory management, sales promotions, and cleanliness.

Specialty department supervisor vs department manager overview

	Specialty Department Supervisor	Department Manager
Yearly salary	$33,288	$67,160
Hourly rate	$16.00	$32.29
Growth rate	5%	5%
Number of jobs	129,420	330,327
Job satisfaction	-	4
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 52%	Bachelor's Degree, 46%
Average age	43	43
Years of experience	6	6

Specialty department supervisor vs department manager salary

Specialty department supervisors and department managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Specialty Department Supervisor	Department Manager
Average salary	$33,288	$67,160
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $42,000	Between $39,000 And $115,000
Highest paying City	-	New York, NY
Highest paying state	-	New Jersey
Best paying company	-	Ralph Lauren
Best paying industry	-	Manufacturing

Differences between specialty department supervisor and department manager education

There are a few differences between a specialty department supervisor and a department manager in terms of educational background:

	Specialty Department Supervisor	Department Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 52%	Bachelor's Degree, 46%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	SUNY College of Technology at Delhi	SUNY College of Technology at Delhi

Specialty department supervisor vs department manager demographics

Here are the differences between specialty department supervisors' and department managers' demographics:

	Specialty Department Supervisor	Department Manager
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 45.1% Female, 54.9%	Male, 51.8% Female, 48.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 17.7% Asian, 6.9% White, 61.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 9.3% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 16.8% Asian, 7.0% White, 61.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between specialty department supervisor and department manager duties and responsibilities

Specialty department supervisor example responsibilities.

Maintain department by establishing merchandising goals, managing inventory control, and maintaining department organization and cleanliness.
Aggregate, analyze and organize information from QC reports into a department-wide WIKI to facilitate information sharing and best practice utilization.
Utilize tablet to order or look up items via Kohl's.

Department manager example responsibilities.

Participate in company's ISO certification program, successfully achieving ISO [] and AS9100 certification.
Manage and delegate over lumber-building materials department including millwork department.
Manage electronics, wireless connection center, layaway and online order/pickup departments.
Develop schedules; manage payroll; multitask extensively to ensure competing requirements are complete.
Monitor and maximize sales and payroll by identifying sales opportunities and managing controllable expenses.
Manage geotechnical aspects of an EIR/EIS for a coastal development in an environmentally sensitive lagoon.

Specialty department supervisor vs department manager skills

Common specialty department supervisor skills

Customer Service, 48%
Product Knowledge, 13%
Sales Associates, 8%
Customer Issues, 6%
Performance Reviews, 6%
Computer System, 5%

Common department manager skills

Inventory Management, 38%
Sales Promotions, 17%
Cleanliness, 13%
Customer Service, 8%
Sales Floor, 3%
Product Knowledge, 2%

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Specialty Department Supervisor
Specialty Department Supervisor vs Department Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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