What does senior director mean?

manpreet Best Answer 3 years ago

In a sector, e.g. academia, an office in an organization has a director and a similar office in another organization has a senior director. In general, an office has a boss, which can be called by different titles such as director, head, chair, etc.

I am curious what senior director means when there is no junior director in that place. What is the reason for using the term senior when both senior director and director refer to the same position?

manpreet 3 years ago

Most positions have "paths" which allow career progression - and help distinguish increasing responsibilities and abilities. Typically this is a combination of industry standard as well as company specific (it's in the interest of everyone to have roughly similar responsibilities associated with titles).

So when comparing Director vs Senior Director there could be different expectations or responsibilities associated with the position even though the "job" is the same. Many of these responsibilities may be difficult to see from an external perspective, as well, but as Chad notes the difference is generally increased responsibilities.

Having a Senior Director position also allows for promotion once in a Director role (some positions may have pay range limitations, etc) to avoid perceptions of stagnation, etc, especially if someone is a director for a considerable amount of time.