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Business Management and Operations

Business Management and Operations | Director of Project Management

Director of Project Management

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

A Director of Project Management provides strategic direction for projects within a business or large organization. May oversee the work of project managers or manage organization-wide projects. Oversees and coordinates the resources needed for projects with a defined scope, start and completion point.

Job Outlook

There were 225 Director of Project Management job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 6320 in the United States.

In combination with other careers in the Project Manager industry, which includes the Director of Project Management career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2016:

Salary

Many new Director of Project Management 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 $149,987.

State

The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $150,332.

Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Director of Project Management postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $123,404.

Education and Experience

Posted Director of Project Management 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 LevelPercentage
Associate's Degree0%
Bachelor's Degree72.23%
Master's Degree29.86%
Doctoral Degree4.89%
Other2.12%

Posted Director of Project Management 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 ExperiencePercentage
0 to 2 years3.49%
3 to 5 years23.39%
6 to 8 years30.27%
9+ years42.85%

Skills

Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Director of Project Management 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.

  • Leadership (64.53%)
  • Management (60.78%)
  • Communication (59.43%)
  • Planning (41.36%)
  • Operations (34.59%)
  • Problem Solving (30.08%)
  • Coordinating (25.25%)
  • Timelines (22.37%)
  • Budgeting (21.36%)
  • Presentations (21.19%)

Defining Skills

A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.

  • Project Management (91.18%)

Necessary Skills

A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.

  • Project Controls (4.91%)
  • Business Operations (6.9%)
  • Project Schedules (8.78%)
  • Project Implementation (14.77%)
  • Project Scoping (8.51%)
  • Workflow Management (7.94%)
  • Construction (17.17%)
  • Risk Mitigation (10.18%)
  • Agile Methodology (10.51%)
  • Data Analysis (7.94%)
  • Construction Management (10.9%)
  • Business Development (11.71%)
  • Procurement (16.26%)
  • Continuous Improvement Process (19.02%)
  • Change Management (15.56%)
  • Project Planning (11.49%)
  • Dashboard (5%)
  • Business Process (7.45%)
  • Contract Management (5.7%)
  • Performance Management (3.37%)
  • Finance (13.25%)
  • Performance Appraisal (8.22%)
  • Risk Management (16.11%)
  • Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) (14.36%)
  • Marketing (12.36%)
  • Microsoft Project (11.06%)
  • Milestones (Project Management) (16.5%)
  • Resource Allocation (9.14%)
  • Systems Development Life Cycle (7.99%)
  • Quality Management (5.02%)
  • Business Strategies (10.85%)
  • Pharmaceuticals (11.33%)
  • Project Management Office (PMO) (11.91%)
  • Portfolio Management (5.31%)
  • Project Management Software (9.02%)
  • Project Risk Management (11.38%)
  • Process Improvement (14.69%)
  • Resource Management (6.74%)
  • Effective Communication (8.42%)
  • Stakeholder Management (6.44%)
  • Resourcing (4.52%)
  • Project Portfolio Management (8.7%)
  • Mitigation (7.65%)

Alternative Job Titles

Sometimes employers post jobs with Director of Project Management skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:

  • Associate Director of Project Management
  • Construction Project Management Director
  • Capital Project Manager
  • Director of Strategic Planning
  • Program Director
  • Associate Clinical Project Management Director
  • PMO Director
  • Operational Excellence Manager
  • Project Coach

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.

Common Employers

Here are the employers that have posted the most Director of Project Management jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.

United States

  • CBRE (308)
  • Takeda Pharmaceutical Company (108)
  • Johnson & Johnson (87)
  • IQVIA (86)
  • The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) (78)
  • Merck KGaA Darmstadt Germany (58)
  • Walmart (58)
  • Thermo Fisher Scientific (56)
  • C.H. Robinson Worldwide (52)
  • Public Partnerships (46)

North Carolina

  • Thermo Fisher Scientific (22)
  • CBRE (13)
  • Johnson & Johnson (10)
  • IQVIA (6)
  • University of North Carolina at Pembroke (4)
  • Worldwide Clinical Trials (4)
  • GlaxoSmithKline (3)
  • Jacobs Solutions (3)
  • MetLife (3)
  • Life Technologies (3)

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!