Systems director vs operations director

The differences between systems directors and operations directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-8 years to become a systems director, becoming an operations director takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a systems director has an average salary of $136,676, which is higher than the $104,050 average annual salary of an operations director.

The top three skills for a systems director include patients, oversight and health system. The most important skills for an operations director are customer service, continuous improvement, and oversight.

Systems director vs operations director overview

	Systems Director	Operations Director
Yearly salary	$136,676	$104,050
Hourly rate	$65.71	$50.02
Growth rate	16%	6%
Number of jobs	83,992	114,993
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Average age	47	44
Years of experience	8	6

What does a systems director do?

A systems director is in charge of spearheading the implementation and development of systems and networks within a company, ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. Their responsibilities revolve around setting goals and objectives, allocating budgets, identifying company needs, and developing strategies to optimize operations. They may also manage the workforce and resolve any issues as needed. Furthermore, as a systems director, it is essential to lead and encourage the workers to reach goals, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations, creating new ones as needed.

What does an operations director do?

Operations directors oversee all company operations. They have the power to set the direction, change the course of the organization, and reform strategies to ensure efficiency in how the company operates. Operations directors manage business operations effectively by constantly analyzing company data and by anticipating any challenge that may come their way. As such, they make sound business decisions and recommendations that will help strengthen the organization. Operations directors oversee finances, quality control, and even human resources. They ensure that all aspects of the business are considered in making business operations decisions.

Systems director vs operations director salary

Systems directors and operations directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Systems Director	Operations Director
Average salary	$136,676	$104,050
Salary range	Between $98,000 And $189,000	Between $65,000 And $164,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Holland & Knight	Airbnb
Best paying industry	Media	Finance

Differences between systems director and operations director education

There are a few differences between a systems director and an operations director in terms of educational background:

	Systems Director	Operations Director
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Carnegie Mellon University	University of Pennsylvania

Systems director vs operations director demographics

Here are the differences between systems directors' and operations directors' demographics:

	Systems Director	Operations Director
Average age	47	44
Gender ratio	Male, 72.3% Female, 27.7%	Male, 70.6% Female, 29.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.5% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 12.7% White, 65.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 6.1% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.9% Asian, 6.3% White, 67.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	11%	10%

Differences between systems director and operations director duties and responsibilities

Systems director example responsibilities.

Manage installation and administration of HP-UX, AIX, Unix, and Linux servers.
Implement and manage a VoIP phone system to streamline communications between branch locations and reduce operating costs by $60k.
Manage budgets associate with payroll, equipment and other costs associate with examinations.
Lead projects with responsibilities for the architecture, implementation and administration of data warehouse and repository technical environments.
Ensure availability by installing SAN arrays replicating in real time.
Integrate multiple CRM applications into a single platform for access worldwide.

Operations director example responsibilities.

Manage KPI reports from all warranty companies to ensure increasing sales and productivity.
Spearhead governance, security and compliance initiatives to achieve SOX and PCI compliance.
Manage a PMO style team to implement any changes across the global contact centers.
Develop all marketing strategies and materials as well as personally managing key OEM and national accounts.
Manage multiple vendor relationships for RFP development and review, contract negotiation, contract terms management, and accounts payable review.
Provide leadership to manufacturing organization by aligning overall KPIs to achieve near term and long term business objectives.

Systems director vs operations director skills

Common systems director skills

Patients, 10%
Oversight, 8%
Health System, 7%
Patient Care, 6%
Project Management, 6%
Process Improvement, 4%

Common operations director skills

Customer Service, 12%
Continuous Improvement, 7%
Oversight, 7%
Patients, 6%
Project Management, 5%
Human Resources, 4%

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Systems Director
Systems Director vs Operations Director

Updated January 8, 2025

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