Director of Operations
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Director of Operations is responsible for the day-to-day operations of a company or organization. Plans, organizes, directs and evaluates delivery of goods and services. Supervises staff, oversee projects and daily work activities. May have responsibility for managing supplies and materials, budgets or customer relations; may serve as liaison to senior management.
Job Outlook
There were 2016 Director of Operations job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 58465 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Operations Manager / Supervisor industry, which includes the Director of Operations career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:
Salary
Many new Director of Operations jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $148,122.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $150,426.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Director of Operations postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $116,129.
Education and Experience
Posted Director of Operations jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 63.73% |
| Master's Degree | 26.04% |
| Doctoral Degree | 2.76% |
| Other | 6.54% |
Posted Director of Operations jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 9.8% |
| 3 to 5 years | 42.2% |
| 6 to 8 years | 19.5% |
| 9+ years | 28.5% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Director of Operations positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Operations (86.33%)
- Leadership (63.57%)
- Management (58.4%)
- Communication (54.05%)
- Customer Service (30.64%)
- Planning (27.53%)
- Problem Solving (24.87%)
- Sales (22.87%)
- Budgeting (21.16%)
- Strategic Planning (17.54%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Profit And Loss (P&L) Management (13.86%)
- Workflow Management (11.62%)
- Business Operations (9.71%)
- Supply Chain (9.63%)
- Accounting (12.21%)
- Continuous Improvement Process (20.65%)
- Auditing (15.24%)
- Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) (19.29%)
- Financial Statements (10.19%)
- Finance (21.99%)
- Marketing (22.14%)
- Operations Management (18.97%)
- Project Management (27.06%)
- Process Improvement (17.67%)
- Operational Excellence (12.71%)
- Performance Management (9.41%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Director of Operations skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Regional Director of Operations
- Operations Manager
- Operations Director
- Director of Business Operations
- Director of Plant Operations
- General Manager
- Customer Operations Manager
- Assistant Director of Operations
- Associate Director of Operations
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
- Operations Manager (General)
- Vice President of Engineering
- Chief Executive Officer
- Vice President (General)
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Director of Operations jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Marriott International (633)
- GAF Materials Corporation (587)
- Cracker Barrel (457)
- PricewaterhouseCoopers (419)
- Johnson & Johnson (404)
- Heartland Dental (357)
- Compass Group (333)
- Arby's (320)
- KPMG (267)
- Elevance Health (261)
North Carolina
- University of North Carolina (36)
- Emergent Financial Group (33)
- Wells Fargo (30)
- Cracker Barrel (26)
- Childcare Network (25)
- Heartland Dental (25)
- PricewaterhouseCoopers (22)
- Thermo Fisher Scientific (20)
- Truist Financial (20)
- Duke University (19)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
- Business Administration Master's Degrees
- Professional Communication and Managerial Skills Graduate Certificates
- Sport and Entertainment Venue Management Graduate Certificates
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.