If you can direct and oversee an organization's strategic and long-range goal planning projects, then you will have the title of strategic planning director. You will also be responsible for overseeing all the organization's reviews, communicate findings to management, and develop strategies based on reviews. You will also drive the strategic initiatives of the company and support and aid in the development of long-term growth plans and profitability.
You will analyze and recommend emerging industry trends, expansion opportunities and report on possible mergers and acquisitions, competitive threats, the possibility of outside business partners, and venture capital sources. You will also drive the strategic initiatives of the company and support and aid in the development of long-term growth plans and profitability.
Strategic Planning Director Overview
Strategic Planning Director Careers
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a strategic planning director. For example, did you know that they make an average of $69.67 an hour? That's $144,922 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 8% and produce 21,800 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Strategic Planning Director Do
There are certain skills that many strategic planning directors have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, communication skills and creativity.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a strategic planning director, we found that a lot of resumes listed 12.3% of strategic planning directors included project management, while 8.7% of resumes included strategic initiatives, and 8.1% of resumes included business development. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the strategic planning director job title. But what industry to start with? Most strategic planning directors actually find jobs in the retail and technology industries.
How To Become a Strategic Planning Director
If you're interested in becoming a strategic planning director, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 32.3% of strategic planning directors have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 51.0% of strategic planning directors have master's degrees. Even though most strategic planning directors have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a strategic planning director. When we researched the most common majors for a strategic planning director, we found that they most commonly earn master's degree degrees or bachelor's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on strategic planning director resumes include doctoral degree degrees or associate degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a strategic planning director. In fact, many strategic planning director jobs require experience in a role such as director. Meanwhile, many strategic planning directors also have previous career experience in roles such as manager or finance director.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the right jobs to get there.
Strategic Planning Director Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a strategic planning director can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as vice president, progress to a title such as executive vice president and then eventually end up with the title executive vice president.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Strategic Planning Director
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
The University of Alabama SL Director I-Director, Strategic Planning & Assessment SL Director I-Director, Strategic Planning & Assessment | The University of Alabama The University of Alabama | 01/14/2021 01/14/2021 | $54,10101/14/2021 $54,101 |
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Strategic Planning Director Strategic Planning Director | Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration | 11/08/2019 11/08/2019 | $127,91411/08/2019 $127,914 |
ALJ Regional Holdings, Inc. Director of Strategic Planning Director of Strategic Planning | ALJ Regional Holdings, Inc. ALJ Regional Holdings, Inc. | 09/23/2019 09/23/2019 | $120,00009/23/2019 $120,000 |
NIKE, Inc. Director of Strategic Planning-Global Apparel Director of Strategic Planning-Global Apparel | NIKE, Inc. NIKE, Inc. | 08/15/2019 08/15/2019 | $175,00008/15/2019 $175,000 |
State of Florida Strategic Planning Director Strategic Planning Director | State of Florida State of Florida | 08/01/2019 08/01/2019 | $80,00008/01/2019 $80,000 |
Calculate your salary
Use Zippia's Salary Calculator to see how your pay matches up.
Top Colleges for Strategic Planning Directors
1. University of Georgia
Athens, GA • Public
2. University of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, WI • Public
3. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN • Public
4. Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN • Public
5. Howard University
Washington, DC • Private
6. University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX • Public
7. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
8. Ohio State University
Columbus, OH • Public
9. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
10. SUNY at Binghamton
Vestal, NY • Public
Top Skills For a Strategic Planning Director
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 12.3% of strategic planning directors listed project management on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and communication skills are important as well.
- Project Management, 12.3%
- Strategic Initiatives, 8.7%
- Business Development, 8.1%
- Financial Models, 5.2%
- Market Research, 4.5%
- Other Skills, 61.2% See All Strategic Planning Director Skills
Best States For a Strategic Planning Director
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a strategic planning director. The best states for people in this position are Rhode Island, New York, Minnesota, and Connecticut. Strategic planning directors make the most in Rhode Island with an average salary of $167,663. Whereas in New York and Minnesota, they would average $157,988 and $157,036, respectively. While strategic planning directors would only make an average of $153,721 in Connecticut, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Rhode Island
$167,663
Avg. Salary
2. District of Columbia
$169,437
Avg. Salary
3. New York
$157,988
Avg. Salary
How Do Strategic Planning Director Rate Their Jobs?
Top Strategic Planning Director Employers
Strategic Planning Director Videos
