WHAT DOES A DIRECTOR DO?

Published: Jun 4, 2025 - The Director directs company-wide strategies by analyzing market trends and aligning resources for maximum impact. This role involves leading multiple departments, ensuring cohesive operations, budget efficiency, and timely project execution. Additionally, the director builds and maintains executive-level partnerships to support innovation, compliance, and long-term organizational success.

A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Director

1. Director of Accounting Key Accountabilities

  • General Ledger Management: Lead the full cycle general ledger monthly close process and related activities to ensure all accounts are US GAAP compliant
  • Payroll and Expense Reporting: Own critical processes like payroll and expense reporting
  • Policy Implementation: Draft and implement key policies and procedures, and drive the implementation and training of new accounting standards
  • Audit Coordination: Maintain the relationship with external auditors, provide pragmatic solutions and alternatives to challenging audit requests and inquiries
  • Cross-functional Collaboration: Collaborate cross-functionally to build streamlined and scalable processes and achieve maximum efficiency to support growth
  • Industry Benchmarking: Benchmark and coordinate with industry peers on standard methodologies related to accounting, systems, policies, and processes
  • Variance Analysis: Ownership of monthly flux variance analysis and a thorough understanding of accounts
  • HR Collaboration: Collaborate with the HR team to communicate stock option materials, compliance, the grant process, and the management report
  • Strategic Initiatives: Participate in key strategic initiatives and assist with other ad hoc projects

2. Director of Administration Job Description

  • Administrative Support Operations: Collaborates across the business to identify and deliver the required administrative support operations for the organization.
  • Process Documentation: Produce documentation and champion key departmental processes and knowledge resources.
  • Budget Planning: Collaborate with management staff to draft and implement an annual administrative budget.
  • Customer Service Strategy: Set a clear mission and deploy aligned strategies to improve customer service experience, create engaged customers, improve current processes, and facilitate organic growth.
  • Best Practices Application: Keep ahead of industry developments and apply best practices to areas of improvement.
  • Administrative Planning: Serve as a member of the organization’s key administrative decision-making and planning body.
  • Team Development: Provide performance and career development feedback to the team of direct reports.
  • Cross-training Facilitation: Ensure the team is cross-trained and embraces a team-oriented approach to problem solving.
  • Performance Metrics: Identify, refine, and produce key department performance metrics.
  • Compliance Monitoring: Monitor and analyze compliance with standard processes and ensure follow-up actions are taken at the District, Region, and Market levels.
  • Reporting and Analysis: Draft and distribute statistical reports, analyses, and exhibits to company stakeholders, to regulatory and government agencies.
  • Regulatory Compliance: Ensure the organization’s compliance with applicable health, building, zoning, and safety licensing and certification requirements.

3. Director of Architecture Additional Details

  • Technical Design Leadership: Understand the technical vision of the product and translate it into technical designs, and lead the implementation with the tech team.
  • Comparative Analysis: Perform comparative analysis and decide on the optimal design for a given problem, while being cost-effective for the project.
  • Effort Estimation: Provide effort estimation based on high-level business requirements.
  • Customer Engagement: Engage with the customers for technical discussions, architecture, and design approaches.
  • Business Case Development: Estimate costs and benefits and prepare business cases for engineering implementation.
  • Solution Presentation: Present in clear and concise terms the solution processes, components, objects, web services, reporting modules, databases, etc., to the business.
  • Technical Collaboration: Work with the engineering team on technical design and development.
  • Issue Diagnosis: Diagnose security, performance, and scalability issues.
  • Performance Planning: Foresee and prepare for possible performance bottlenecks, scalability issues, and security vulnerabilities.
  • Compliance Management: Actively drive processes to comply with clients’ data policies, data privacy, regulatory requirements, data archival, and data validations.

4. Director of Business Development Job Summary

  • Business Development Strategy: Create business development and GTM strategies
  • Confidentiality Management: Protect operations by keeping information confidential.
  • Relationship Building: Identify relationship-building opportunities to drive new business development
  • Business Pitching: Handle business pitching
  • Sales Planning: Lead the creation of sales plans regularly
  • Competitive Intelligence: Coordinate competitive intelligence
  • Team Leadership: Provide leadership to junior members to increase team capability

5. Director of Case Management Functions

  • Standardized Practices Collaboration: Collaborates with network colleagues to achieve standardized practices.
  • Performance Improvement: Participates in departmental, organizational, and regional performance improvement initiatives.
  • Case Management System Refinement: Directs the refinement of systems within the Case Management Department to support an effective and proactive case management process.
  • Resource Utilization: Directs daily operations to achieve effective utilization of personnel resources consistent with patients/residents/clients' needs.
  • Operational Oversight: Oversees and facilitates the day-to-day operations of the Case Management Department, including concurrent review, discharge planning.
  • Goal Setting: Directs the development of annual departmental goals and objectives.
  • Strategic Planning: Direct development of strategic departmental plans and initiatives.
  • Budget Management: Oversees the development of management of the annual budget.
  • Cost Reduction: Identifies and achieves cost reductions.
  • Collaborative Cost Management: Works collaboratively with staff and others to reduce costs.

6. Director of Communications Duties

  • Engagement and Promotion: Crafting and executing the engagement, release, and promotion of Breakthrough’s work
  • Pitch Development: Collaborating with research teams to develop pitches
  • Brand Positioning: Developing and reinforcing Breakthrough’s mission, positioning, and brand among staff
  • Media Training: Providing high-level and targeted media training for research staff
  • Brand Promotion: Promoting Breakthrough’s work and brand to core audiences
  • Stakeholder Collaboration: Working with key partners and stakeholders to expand the impact of Breakthrough’s work
  • Digital Communications Strategy: Overseeing Breakthrough’s digital communications strategy, including email, social media, and multimedia production
  • Event Strategy Planning: Collaborating with the Director of Events to plan content and strategy for Breakthrough Dialogues, other national and international in-person convenings, and online events
  • Journalist Relations: Cultivating and stewarding staff relationships with journalists
  • Media Monitoring: Monitoring and responding to the changing demands and needs of reporters and editors
  • Team Management: Managing and ensuring the professional development of a team of 2-3 direct reports

7. Director of Global Cyber Security Engineering Accountabilities

  • Security Project Delivery: Work with a team of highly-experienced engineers to design and deliver projects for security applications and infrastructure
  • Security Architecture: Architect and deliver foundational and strategic security engineering solutions and programs to address cloud implementations (AWS, GCP, Azure)
  • Scalable Control Implementation: Enable the team to deliver projects and roll out controls at scale
  • Risk Mitigation Collaboration: Engage with Legal, Audit, GRC, and IT to address risks with solutions
  • Incident Response: Engage in Incident Response among a cross-functional team
  • Cybersecurity Intelligence: Leverage Cybersecurity Intelligence and Research to enhance the security program
  • Technology Evaluation: Research and evaluate new technology products for pilot or implementation to implement defensive measures
  • Compliance Alignment: Align with and deliver solutions that meet industry standard compliance requirements (CSA, NIST)
  • Monitoring Expansion: Expand internal monitoring across the stack
  • Security Partnership: Partner with IT and Security teams throughout the organization to deliver security solutions

8. Director of Development Role Purpose

  • Revenue Sustainability: Sustain and increase revenue from a diverse portfolio of public and private sources/donors, including churches, foundations, government agencies, corporations, groups, and individuals.
  • Donor Relationship Building: Build new donor relationships and identify ideal donors from public and private sources/donors.
  • Donor Engagement Strategy: Interact with donors and develop processes for other senior leaders to interact with discreet portfolios of donors to encourage their ongoing engagement and contributions.
  • Content Writing: Write content to elicit new audiences and cultivate better relationships with donors, sponsors, etc.
  • Fundraising Event Planning: Plan and oversee fundraising events and seek out opportunities for financial support through sponsorships.
  • Donor Database Management: Ensure that donor database capabilities are maximized
  • Fundraising Metrics Development: Develop metrics, construct graphs and reports that identify needs and opportunities, and relevant strategies.
  • Fundraising Analytics: Use trends and other analytics to set attainable and ambitious fundraising goals and to guide fundraising cycles and campaign decisions.
  • Reputation Management: Ensure a respectful reputation for Ascentria.

9. Director of Distribution and Transportation Essential Functions

  • Cross-functional Collaboration: Work with multiple divisions, balancing short-term objectives and long-term strategy
  • Change Management: Act as a change agent to lead change and innovation within distribution and transportation environments.
  • Performance Target Achievement: Achieve Safety, Cost, Productivity, Quality, and Service targets.
  • Metric Development: Develop consistent and meaningful metrics across the entire company's Distribution network.
  • Cost Standardization: Create standards for cost to serve by business and by customer.
  • Process Improvement: Initiate and manage DC process improvements and best practices, driving improved OTIF and key customer and productivity metrics.
  • Automation Design: Identify, design, and justify automated processes with proper ROI to improve distribution throughput and cost to serve.
  • Distribution Analysis: Provide Distribution analysis and educated advice for industry trends and opportunities.
  • Stakeholder Liaison: Act as a liaison between Corporate Supply Chain and the business DC Leaders, earning trust and influencing decisions to enable best practice implementation.
  • Project Management: Project manage large complex initiatives, giving direction to team members and leadership in a matrix environment.
  • Initiative Management: Manage multiple initiatives simultaneously.

10. Director of Engineering Responsibilities and Key Tasks

  • Squad Development: Lead and manage the development of a new Financial Services Engineering Squad
  • Engineering Strategy: Lead the engineering strategy and delivery for the company’s core products
  • Technical Decision-making: Work together with leadership on the company’s critical technical decisions
  • Team Building: Build up a high-performing and diverse engineering team across Singapore and India
  • Pilot Delivery Enablement: Enable Pilot delivery with Engineering and Customer Success
  • Sprint Planning: Plan sprints and features with Product Owners
  • SLA Management: Maintain product and customer SLA’s and work with engineers to stay on time and deliver milestones with quality
  • MVP and Scalability Balance: Balance the MVP mindset with building for scale and defining the path to market
  • Cross-functional Influence: Influence cross-functional engineering, business/go-to-market, and operational teams to support the scale-up of the company

11. Director of Facilities General Responsibilities

  • Budget Planning: In conjunction with the Executive Director, seek the funding necessary to carry on the mission while anticipating the long-term needs of the infrastructure by assembling a robust and transparent detailed budget.
  • Risk Management: Properly identify risks, analyze their order of magnitude, and prioritize all work accordingly.
  • Facility Efficiency: Ensure buildings and systems operate at maximum efficiency and reliability.
  • Occupant Relations: Manage the expectations of building occupants and address their concerns as they arise.
  • Customer Service Focus: Provide a focus on customer service.
  • Accreditation Compliance: Direct the building-related actions required to successfully score an adequate assessment of LCME and AAALAC continued accreditation.
  • Stakeholder Engagement: Meet with and manage the needs of science department principal investigators and education, administrative department leaders.
  • Expectation Alignment: Close the gaps between department expectations and facility performance.
  • Contract Management: Administer and manage the primary facilities management contract and contractor and campus-wide maintenance service contracts by providing direction, resolving commercial and technical issues, reviewing process efficiency, developing and implementing new strategies, and leading problem resolution.
  • Construction Coordination: Coordinate and collaborate with HMS construction and renovation activities.
  • Strategic Direction: Provide strategic direction by leading in a continuous improvement culture, to best management practices of leading-edge and best-in-class performance.

12. Director of Finance Accountabilities

  • Report Preparation: Work with the Corporate Accounting department to prepare all appropriate reports, including partnership distribution.
  • Insurance Advisory: Advise management about insurance coverage for protection against property losses and potential liabilities.
  • Financial Planning: Perform and oversee financial planning/analysis, cash resource management, and budgeting
  • Financial Modeling: Create financial models and provide ad-hoc financial analysis
  • Process Improvement: Evaluate financial/accounting processes, propose improvements, and oversee implementation
  • Month-End Close: Direct subordinates in finalizing monthly closes
  • Audit Leadership: Lead audit processes
  • Client Account Management: Oversee client account management, discussion, and analysis
  • Client Finance Collaboration: Work with clients to ensure representation of the company's finance function
  • Management Reporting: Draft management discussion and analysis reports

13. Director of Information Technology Roles and Details

  • IT Operations Management: Works closely with the IT team to run day-to-day IT operations of the firm.
  • IT Supervision: Supervises the IT group to ensure that firm technology is properly managed and proper policies are in place and being adhered to by employees, including computer systems, internet, email, telephones, and cybersecurity
  • Technology Implementation: Oversees the implementation of new software and technology platforms
  • Technology Innovation: Identifies new technology practices that support the growth of business and IT initiatives
  • Industry Insight: Has industry knowledge of competitive services, opportunities for innovation, and assessment of marketplace obstacles and technical hurdles to business success
  • Performance Objective Setting: Sets objectives for the technology group and determines key performance criteria for success
  • Team Structuring: Organizes team structure to most effectively meet business needs
  • Talent Development: Mentors and trains talent to ensure tenure and employee engagement

14. Director of Inside Sales Duties and Roles

  • Department Leadership: Set and execute the direction, goals, and mission of the Inside Sales Department
  • Team Culture Building: Create a high-energy, collaborative, performance-based culture within the team
  • Team Coaching: Directly coach, mentor, motivate, and manage Business Development Representatives and Managers to ensure team success
  • Training and Strategy: Responsible for ongoing training, strategy sessions, as well as active participation in interactions with Prospects to generate qualified opportunities for the Sales organization
  • Cross-functional Collaboration: Interact with Field Sales Leadership and Marketing Leadership to help build vision and strategy for the attainment of the company’s new business and revenue goals
  • Performance Reporting: Report on team performance and suggest improvements to optimize team output
  • Process Development: Create targets, scale processes, and develop best practices.
  • Escalation Management: Manage and resolve escalations, allowing the team to stay focused on sales.
  • Event Planning: Plan and execute marketing events and programs with the Marketing team and external partners.

15. Director VP of IT Roles

  • IT Strategy Alignment: Align and ensure that Information Systems and Technologies meet the mission of the overall organization and define strategies.
  • Infrastructure Architecture: Hands-on with Infrastructure/Network architecture, design, and engineering.
  • System Standards Development: Develop standards and procedures for selection, implementation, integration, and support of all companywide systems.
  • IT Process Improvement: Lead and direct continuous improvement of the IT team, equipment, and procedures to maintain pace with technological progress, economic change, and business needs.
  • HIPAA Security Compliance: Function as HIPAA Security Officer and represent information security standards and practices.
  • Team Mentorship: Evaluate and mentor IT team members to work on career development and training needs.
  • Technology Budget Management: Manage annual technology, financial operating, and capital budget processes.
  • Vendor Management: Research, select, and manage current or new IT vendors based on company needs.

16. Director of Manufacturing Overview

  • Team Supervision: Provide direction, support, and supervision to four Line Managers to assure consistent, high-quality production
  • Customer Fulfillment: Interface with Product Manager, take ownership of customer fulfillment, and ensure production quality goals, volume, and schedules are met
  • Duty Assignment: Define duty assignments, be nimble, and reconfigure
  • Equipment Management: Gain a full understanding of the equipment used and ensure it is being properly maintained and calibrated
  • Production Meeting Leadership: Lead daily production meetings and resolve any challenges
  • Quality Documentation: Assure meticulous following and maintenance of quality documents
  • Manufacturing Leadership: Provide leadership and support to all manufacturing teammates
  • Business Strategy Contribution: Contribute to the overall business strategy and annual budget process

17. Director of Manufacturing Operations Details

  • Operations Planning: Contribute to the development and execution of overall operations plans
  • Trend and Risk Monitoring: Stay current on emerging manufacturing trends and emerging threats, and risks
  • Production Coordination: Coordinate all aspects of internal production and outside contract manufacturing, including logistics, planning, and facilities.
  • Target Management: Work with management to establish COGS and other quality, yield, and performance targets and manage efforts to meet those targets.
  • Supplier Development: Develop second-source suppliers and alternative approaches to manufacturing.
  • Operating Plan Development: Develop an operating plan for all production-related areas.
  • Manufacturing Transfer Optimization: Work with product development to maximize product manufacturability, minimize COGS, and maximize the predictability of Manufacturing Transfer.
  • Facility Planning: Responsible for assisting with the planning and execution of future facility needs.
  • Team Management: Manage the Manufacturing Operations team’s needs and performance.

18. Director of Media Sales Tasks

  • Digital Strategy Leadership: Lead strategic and forward-thinking digital strategies for clients.
  • Cross-functional Collaboration: Collaborate cross-functionally to integrate campaign learnings into the creative production process
  • Account Acquisition: Prospect and close new accounts individually and with team members
  • Pipeline Management: Manage a robust pipeline to meet business development targets
  • Brand Strategy Execution: Manage and execute brand strategies for existing accounts with the Account Servicing Team.
  • Team Management: Manage a team of sales and business development executives
  • Quality Assurance: Ensure the highest quality work product at all times
  • Deadline Management: Ensure realistic deadlines are set and deadlines are met

19. Director of People Operations Responsibilities

  • Recruiting Oversight: Oversee recruiting to maximize hiring objectives
  • Leadership Advising: Advise leaders on a variety of topics, including organization design, benefits selection
  • Training Delivery: Deliver high-impact training programs.
  • Benefits and Perks Management: Ensure we continue to have the right mix of benefits and perks in place as we scale up.
  • Data-Driven Decision Support: Provide data and insights to facilitate holistic business decisions, i.e., turnover stats, employee survey results, compensation analysis, etc.
  • Leadership Guidance: Guide business leaders' decisions and actions, resulting in high levels of engagement and productivity
  • Performance Alignment: Improve alignment of performance management, compensation, organizational development, and employee retention initiatives.

20. Procurement Director Duties

  • Supplier Relationship Management: Establish, manage, and own strategic supplier relationships, end-to-end
  • Supplier Review Leadership: Lead Supplier WBR and QBR processes focused on exceeding Calix KPIs and continuously improving supplier performance
  • Cost Reporting Oversight: Take responsibility for negotiating, budgeting, and reviewing financial and adverse cost reporting, ensuring that it is reliable, accurate, and reported on time (in partnership with Finance)
  • Cost Management: Own cost modeling, RFQ process, and cost reduction initiatives
  • Cross-functional Collaboration: Work collaboratively with cross-functional engineering teams to ensure that new product quotes and ongoing costs are accurate, processes are being followed, and capacity at the supplier meets expectations
  • Supplier Process Leadership: Lead supplier management processes (supplier performance, risk mitigation planning, standards compliance, adverse cost (PPV, supplier liability, etc))
  • Contract Execution Management: Understand master agreement terms and implications, and manage execution to terms, ensure processes and KPIs are in place
  • Vendor Performance Tracking: Develop and refine performance scorecards for vendors to drive continuous improvements and a successful partnership
  • Risk Mitigation: Identify vulnerabilities, potential risks, and hidden costs, and proactively provide mitigation plans
  • Vendor Commercial Management: Drive commercial discussions with vendors along with program management initiatives to improve efficiencies in vendor management and help drive change.