University relations director vs communications lead

The differences between university relations directors and communications leads can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a university relations director, becoming a communications lead takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a communications lead has an average salary of $96,988, which is higher than the $95,885 average annual salary of a university relations director.

The top three skills for a university relations director include marketing campaigns, project management and investor relations. The most important skills for a communications lead are project management, strategic communications, and HR.

University relations director vs communications lead overview

	University Relations Director	Communications Lead
Yearly salary	$95,885	$96,988
Hourly rate	$46.10	$46.63
Growth rate	8%	12%
Number of jobs	23,143	20,413
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 73%	Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Average age	42	45
Years of experience	4	6

What does a university relations director do?

University Relations Directors manage the company's partnership with schools. They are employed by companies with businesses that cater to universities, colleges, or other related academic institutions. They handle the group that works as account managers or act as account managers themselves. They are in charge of setting their department's targets. They also create strategies to meet their goals. University Relations Directors should have a wide network. They should know how to create professional relationships with clients, maintain clients, and ensure customer loyalty. University Relations Directors should be familiar with the current trends in the academe and their business field.

What does a communications lead do?

The global senior program manager acts as a coordinator for the organization's projects and performs various tasks including supervision, account management, daily staff assignments, budget planning, cost control, and tracking program expenses by collaborating with various global departments to enhance all global programs. He/she should have excellent analytical, decision-making, leadership, and organization skills and knowledge about project management to be able to oversee and organize activities to ensure its compliance with the organization's goals.

University relations director vs communications lead salary

University relations directors and communications leads have different pay scales, as shown below.

	University Relations Director	Communications Lead
Average salary	$95,885	$96,988
Salary range	Between $56,000 And $163,000	Between $67,000 And $139,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Nevada	California
Best paying company	Nike	Meta
Best paying industry	-	Internet

Differences between university relations director and communications lead education

There are a few differences between a university relations director and a communications lead in terms of educational background:

	University Relations Director	Communications Lead
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 73%	Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

University relations director vs communications lead demographics

Here are the differences between university relations directors' and communications leads' demographics:

	University Relations Director	Communications Lead
Average age	42	45
Gender ratio	Male, 51.7% Female, 48.3%	Male, 41.4% Female, 58.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.0% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 9.2% Asian, 5.1% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 11.8% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.0% Asian, 5.1% White, 62.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%
LGBT Percentage	16%	14%

Differences between university relations director and communications lead duties and responsibilities

University relations director example responsibilities.

Draft all shareholder communications and 1993 annual report/Form 10-K; manage registrar/transfer agent activities and relationship with NASDAQ.
Experience in managing stock splits, odd-lot buybacks, proxy fights, annual meetings, litigation settlements and securities offerings.
Hire, train and manage play-by-play broadcasters guaranteeing a professional and informative listening experience.
Initiate and execute successful programs to encourage alumni attendance, involvement and donations.
Maintain CRM database used for benefactor tracking, financial reporting and marketing-driven fundraising efforts.
Establish automation and integration with CRM databases that enable accurate audience segmentation and time responses.

Communications lead example responsibilities.

Lead content migration of old intranet to new SharePoint platform.
Manage editorial calendar and writing content for digital assets including intranet and external web.
Lead copywriting for newly launch Chinese language website LeEco.com/Chinese to attract Chinese American customers.
Manage intranet content, with responsibility for project news, executive visibility, community activities, educational outreach.
Manage and overseen housing operations, administration of HUD programs, supervise maintenance and/or improvements of residential properties.
Serve as SharePoint site administrator, creating intranet, surveys and resource repository.

University relations director vs communications lead skills

Common university relations director skills

Marketing Campaigns, 25%
Project Management, 22%
Investor Relations, 7%
Investment Community, 4%
Website Content, 3%
Professional Development, 3%

Common communications lead skills

Project Management, 9%
Strategic Communications, 6%
HR, 5%
Customer Service, 5%
Community Outreach, 4%
Digital Marketing, 4%

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University Relations Director
University Relations Director vs Communications Lead

Updated January 8, 2025

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