What Does a Director Do? Roles And Responsibilities

Updated March 14, 2024

7 min read

Directors work in show business, whether in a film, a television show, or a theatre production. They are responsible for bringing the material to life. They work with the writers to get a clear vision of how the production should look. They lead the production team in planning for the production, identifying filming or rehearsing schedules, casting for roles, and other aspects that need to be decided upon. Directors provide direction to the actors to ensure that the actors understand their role and will be able to effectively convey emotions to the audience. They also manage all other crew members and communicate their expectations clearly so that everyone on the set is working towards one vision.

On This Page

Director responsibilities

A director's responsibilities can be diverse and far-reaching. They can include designing and implementing large-scale networking deployments, developing detailed advisory services projects, establishing and developing relationships with vendors, and developing prioritized lists of recommendations. They may also be responsible for administering and controlling budgets, producing television documentaries, and presenting program information at professional development conferences. Directors may also be responsible for managing annual reporting requirements, including the preparation of audited financial statements and communication with parents. They may also be responsible for maintaining children and staff files, providing parents/families with annual reports, and upholding certifications. As a director, they may also orchestrate all regulatory and accreditation visits, and have experience in developing and writing plans of correction.

Other responsibilities of a director include creating ROI models for business opportunities, providing supervisory oversight of grant-funded programs, coordinating the development and testing of enhancements and modifications to the payroll system, and establishing goals and objectives for staff development programs. They may also collect and analyze metrics of organizational Facebook pages, direct ERP financial teams, and provide project management, business analysis, requirements definition, and configuration solutions. Directors may also be responsible for developing guidelines to integrate demand and supply chain planning, leading a team of business development associates, and generating contract opportunities. They may also be responsible for providing engagement management, project management, technical leadership, and deep functional finance expertise to corporate performance management and BI projects.

According to Dr. Marcia Ferrari, Ph.D., "The role of a director is to establish the culture of the company, to be the role model for the employees, and to be responsible for the profits and losses."

Here are examples of responsibilities from real director resumes:

Manage water metering programs for NYC and national portfolio.
Collaborate with the CPA to manage financials and reporting / distribution to physicians.
Manage OEM manufacturing partners for making bulk solutions, product fills and final packaging.
Lead company's first deep-fill structural project, bring company into EPA compliance, establish effective QA-QC program.
Develop company website entirely as well as wrote and manage the SEO and upkeep for overall site maintenance.
Manage the company's hotel portfolio operations and assets, including renovation, new build, conversions, and rebranding.
Develop new credit monitoring and risk management system that organize a large and diverse portfolio of investment funds into risk-based categories.
Recruited/Hire CPA accounting department head, A/R manager, and A/P manager.
Base on SEO criteria sites are ranked top on Google and other engines.
Top performer in KPI metrics around client satisfaction, sales and turnover improvement.
Set retail pricing strategies and forecast sales through seasonal demand, lifecycle trends, and release windows.
Initiate the merging of electronic medical records for pharmacy, primary care, lab, and rehabilitation.
Chair/Chair HIPAA and emergency preparedness committees.
Maintain FTE usage within departmental guidelines.
Maintain composure during high-stress emergencies that require lifesaving CPR.

Director skills and personality traits

We calculated that 10% of Directors are proficient in Healthcare, Customer Service, and Oversight. They’re also known for soft skills such as Creativity, Communication skills, and Leadership skills.

We break down the percentage of Directors that have these skills listed on their resume here:

Healthcare, 10%
Assisted and provided leadership in the successful merge between two hospitals into Covenant HealthCare.
Customer Service, 10%
Demonstrated professional communication when following up with patrons to ensure quality customer service by addressing concerns and to provide problem resolution.
Oversight, 7%
Provided supervisory oversight of grant-funded cancer, tobacco and cardiovascular programs to ensure entities are operating efficiently and meeting contract objectives.
Project Management, 6%
Directed ERP financial team implementing general ledger and provided project management, business analysis, requirements definition, and configuration solutions.
Human Resources, 4%
Develop small family business into company including business plan, marketing, financing, policy development, quality assurance and human resources
Business Development, 4%
Lead a team of business development associates in identifying and researching target companies and supervise project managers in negotiating major deals.

"healthcare," "customer service," and "oversight" are among the most common skills that directors use at work. You can find even more director responsibilities below, including:

Creativity. One of the key soft skills for a director to have is creativity. You can see how this relates to what directors do because "because a script may be interpreted in different ways, directors must decide on their approach and on how to represent the script’s ideas for the production." Additionally, a director resume shows how directors use creativity: "developed inventory reconciliation process for manufacturer and identified and implemented erp changes to help improve inventory accounting. "

Communication skills. Many director duties rely on communication skills. "producers and directors mustconvey information and ideas clearly in order to coordinate many people to finish a production on time and within budget.," so a director will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways director responsibilities rely on communication skills: "managed product regulatory communications and fda strategy execution (fast track status approved 2005). "

Leadership skills. directors are also known for leadership skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to director responsibilities, because "directors instruct actors and help them portray their characters in a believable manner." A director resume example shows how leadership skills is used in the workplace: "key functional member providing support and leadership to several fda remediation teams. "

Most common director skills

Choose from 10+ customizable director resume templates

Build a professional director resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your director resume.

Compare different directors

Director vs. Director of operations and finance

A director of operations and finance is in charge of overseeing and spearheading business and financial operations, ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. Their responsibilities revolve around performing research and analysis to identify the best practices to optimize operations, coordinating with different departments to gather data, conducting research and analysis to identify new business and investment opportunities, and monitoring the progress of various projects and programs. Furthermore, as a director, it is essential to lead and encourage the workforce to reach goals, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.

If we compare the average director annual salary with that of a director of operations and finance, we find that directors of operations and finance typically earn a $5,014 higher salary than directors make annually.While their salaries may differ, the common ground between directors and directors of operations and finance are a few of the skills required in each roleacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities. In both careers, employee duties involve skills like oversight, project management, and human resources.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, director responsibilities require skills like "healthcare," "customer service," "professional development," and "performance management." Meanwhile a typical director of operations and finance has skills in areas such as "financial operations," "cpa," "financial analysis," and "financial performance." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

directors of operations and finance really shine in the automotive industry with an average salary of $126,734. Comparatively, directors tend to make the most money in the finance industry with an average salary of $155,819.On average, directors of operations and finance reach similar levels of education than directors. Directors of operations and finance are 4.6% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 2.5% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Director vs. Regional director of operations

A Regional Director of Operations supervises an organization's operational activities for an assigned region. Their duties include hiring employees, creating work schedules, overseeing the regional budget, and authorizing expenditures.

On average, regional directors of operations earn a $1,667 higher salary than directors a year.While the salary may differ for these jobs, they share a few skills needed to perform their duties. Based on resume data, both directors and regional directors of operations have skills such as "healthcare," "customer service," and "oversight. "

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, director responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "strategic plan," "payroll," "risk management," and "r." Meanwhile, a regional director of operations has duties that require skills in areas such as "patients," "patient care," "continuous improvement," and "home health." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

regional directors of operations may earn a higher salary than directors, but regional directors of operations earn the most pay in the insurance industry with an average salary of $98,480. On the other hand, directors receive higher pay in the finance industry, where they earn an average salary of $155,819.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Regional directors of operations tend to reach similar levels of education than directors. In fact, they're 1.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 2.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Director vs. Director, special projects

The primary responsibility of a director of special projects is to ensure the successful conclusion of construction-related projects. Special project directors lead, organize, and perform corporate projects outside their duties. They utilize project management, business process management, and change management disciplines for timely and cost-effective initiatives delivery. It is part of their responsibilities to collaborate with business leaders and entrepreneurs to perform corporate programs and initiatives. They also manage process enhancements and various special programs.

An average director, special projects eans a higher salary compared to the average salary of directors. The difference in salaries amounts to directors, special projects earning a $16,427 higher average salary than directors.By looking over several directors and directors, special projects resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "oversight," "project management," and "human resources." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from director resumes include skills like "healthcare," "customer service," "financial management," and "payroll," whereas a director, special projects is more likely to list skills in "website content," "hipaa," "data analysis," and "logistics. "

directors, special projects earn the best pay in the manufacturing industry, where they command an average salary of $130,125. Directors earn the highest pay from the finance industry, with an average salary of $155,819.Most directors, special projects achieve a similar degree level compared to directors. For example, they're 2.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Director vs. Department director

A Department Director spearheads and oversees the operations of a department, ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. Although their responsibilities vary upon the functions of a department, they typically have the power to decide on projects and programs. Their responsibilities include setting goals, establishing budgets and guidelines, representing the department at meetings and media coverages, liaising with external business partners, managing staff, and monitoring the progress of operations. Moreover, a Department Director leads and encourages staff to reach goals while implementing the company's policies and regulations.

Department directors average a lower salary than the annual salary of directors. The difference is about $15,685 per year.While both directors and department directors complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like healthcare, oversight, and human resources, the two careers vary in some skills.While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "customer service," "project management," "financial management," and "risk management" are skills that commonly show up on director resumes. On the other hand, department directors use skills like patient care, patients, direct supervision, and curriculum development on their resumes.The finance industry tends to pay the highest salaries for department directors, with average annual pay of $106,846. Comparatively, the highest director annual salary comes from the finance industry.The average resume of department directors showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to directors. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 2.5% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 2.7%.

Types of director

2-4 yearsOperations DirectorAverage Salary: $104,050Bachelor's DegreeAvailable Jobs: 67,516
4-6 yearsProgram DirectorAverage Salary: $80,664Bachelor's DegreeAvailable Jobs: 59,766
2-4 yearsManaging DirectorAverage Salary: $129,690Bachelor's DegreeAvailable Jobs: 28,929
4-6 yearsRegional DirectorAverage Salary: $78,190Bachelor's DegreeAvailable Jobs: 17,861
4-6 yearsService DirectorAverage Salary: $114,981Bachelor's DegreeAvailable Jobs: 16,631
1-2 yearsCenter DirectorAverage Salary: $106,505Bachelor's DegreeAvailable Jobs: 11,198

Updated March 14, 2024

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

What a Director Does FAQs

Director vs. Officer

What does a director do in a company?

What is the film crew hierarchy?

Associate Director vs. Director

Senior Manager vs. Director

Have more questions?

See all answers to common arts, entertainment, sports, and media questions.

Search for director jobs

What Similar Roles Do

What an Assistant Director Does
What an Associate Director Does
What a Center Director Does
What a Corporate Director Does
What a Department Director Does
What a Deputy Director Does
What a Director Of Operations And Finance Does
What a Director, Special Projects Does
What a Division Director Does
What an Executive Director Does
What a Group Director Does
What an Interim Director Does
What a Managing Director Does
What a National Director Does
What an Operations Director Does

Director Related Careers

Assistant Director
Associate Director
Center Director
Corporate Director
Department Director
Deputy Director
Director Of Operations And Finance
Director, Special Projects
Division Director
Executive Director
Group Director
Interim Director
Managing Director
National Director
Operations Director

Director Related Jobs

Assistant Director
Associate Director
Center Director
Corporate Director
Department Director
Deputy Director
Director Of Operations And Finance
Director, Special Projects
Division Director
Executive Director
Group Director
Interim Director
Managing Director
National Director
Operations Director

Director Jobs By Location

Bedford Director
Denver Director
Elmhurst Director
Gardena Director
Hemet Director
Jupiter Director
Kings Park Director
Lexington Director
Midlothian Director
Orlando Director
Prunedale Director
Shafter Director
Tucson Director
Vista Director
Washington Director

What Does a Director Do? Roles And Responsibilities - Zippia (2024)