Skip to main content
Business Management and Operations - Careers

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 205 Director of Project Management job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 6018 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 2015:

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 Degree73.18%
Master's Degree29.61%
Doctoral Degree5.37%
Other2.16%

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 years3.7%
3 to 5 years25.43%
6 to 8 years29.78%
9+ years41.1%

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 (64.04%)
  • Management (60.45%)
  • Communication (59.32%)
  • Planning (40.01%)
  • Operations (36.34%)
  • Problem Solving (26.12%)
  • Coordinating (25.19%)
  • Influencing Skills (21.27%)
  • Presentations (20.44%)
  • Budgeting (20.34%)

Defining Skills

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

  • Project Management (92.47%)

Necessary Skills

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

  • Project Schedules (8.61%)
  • Project Controls (5.68%)
  • Agile Methodology (10.8%)
  • Project Scoping (8.63%)
  • Risk Mitigation (10.4%)
  • Project Implementation (13.53%)
  • Change Management (17.46%)
  • Procurement (16.07%)
  • Continuous Improvement Process (19.27%)
  • Project Planning (12.26%)
  • Contract Management (5.85%)
  • Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) (15.04%)
  • Marketing (11.72%)
  • Risk Management (16.4%)
  • Construction (16.36%)
  • Auditing (6.36%)
  • Project Management Office (PMO) (13.76%)
  • Portfolio Management (6.71%)
  • Systems Development Life Cycle (6.95%)
  • Resource Management (7.82%)
  • Business Development (12.98%)
  • Construction Management (10.24%)
  • Pharmaceuticals (12.06%)
  • Strategic Leadership (4.3%)
  • Business Strategies (8.96%)
  • Microsoft Project (10.51%)
  • Stakeholder Management (5.67%)
  • Finance (14.13%)
  • Mitigation (9.3%)
  • Project Management Software (8.24%)
  • Resource Allocation (9.29%)
  • Project Risk Management (11.06%)
  • Project Portfolio Management (8.68%)
  • Milestones (Project Management) (14.18%)
  • Process Improvement (15.98%)
  • Effective Communication (8.13%)

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
  • Project Management Manager
  • Capital Project Manager
  • Director of Project Management Office
  • PMO Director
  • Construction Project Management Director
  • Operational Excellence Manager
  • Global Project Leader
  • Implementation Business Analyst

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 (201)
  • Johnson & Johnson (138)
  • Stoneridge (86)
  • The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) (78)
  • Merck KGaA Darmstadt Germany (56)
  • Bristol-Myers Squibb (56)
  • Thermo Fisher Scientific (53)
  • C.H. Robinson Worldwide (53)
  • Walmart (47)
  • Public Partnerships (47)

North Carolina

  • Thermo Fisher Scientific (18)
  • CBRE (10)
  • Johnson & Johnson (9)
  • IQVIA (4)
  • Honeywell International (3)
  • GlaxoSmithKline (3)
  • Larsen & Toubro (3)
  • Jacobs Solutions (3)
  • First Citizens Bank (3)
  • Novasyte (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!