Job Description of an Executive Director

Every organization has definite goals and aims, and several people work together and complement each other to meet those goals. Planning, organizing, managing, controlling, and sustaining are the keys for organizational growth and development.

At the departmental level, these tasks are done by the supervisory level people and the junior management. But who is the person taking care of the overall planning and management at the organizational level? Well, he is the executive director of the organization!

An executive director is also known as the chief executive officer of an organization, or the managing director, who looks after the management of administration, production, marketing, operational, quality, and many such aspects which constitute the business structure of the organization.

Planning and managing work in liaison with the board of directors is the core duty of the executive director. It is along these lines that the executive director performs all the other tasks and responsibilities.

The executive director's role is an important one. He is among the key members of an organization, and every decision made by the executive director has a large impact on the overall business of the organization.

The following are the duties of an executive director - 

• Cost-effective running, maximum productivity, and maximized profits are the main areas of concern of a managing director.
• The first task of an executive director is to formulate strategies and developmental plans for the welfare of the organization.

• He needs to coordinate with the board of directors, vice president, senior vice president, etc., for the development and implementation of such programs.
• To lead the entire organization is the most important responsibility of the executive director. As a leader, he has to focus on all the core functions of the organization.

• He needs to ensure that the developmental programs are designed in a way to meet the organizational goals and objectives.
• An executive director has to look after the overall management of the human resource department, quality, and operations department.

• He needs to work on the management succession planning of the organization, to make sure that a capable management is in place to handle all the work efficiently.
• He also needs to maintain various official as well as higher management and confidential documents, and produce them when necessary to the board of directors.

• The executive director needs to be informed and be in control of everything in the organization, from assets, budget, planning, profit/loss, finance, training, technological advancements, etc.
• He will be required to chair all the top-level meetings, and report to the chairman of the board of directors.

• Last but not the least, he needs to possess excellent leadership qualities and set a fine example to the staff of the whole organization.

Executive directors work under a lot of pressure, as every single decision taken by them matters a lot to the whole company as well as its stakeholders. Being from the top management level, executive directors earn a handsome salary.

Those with less than 1-year experience earn around $34,000 - $1,00,000, whereas those with about 1 - 5 years' experience earn about $40,000 - $128,000.

Executive directors with 5 - 10 years' experience are paid in the range of $47,000 - $200,000, and the ones who have worked for anything between 10 - 20 years (or more) at the planning and management level, earn around $53,000 - $227,000.

These are just the approximate salary ranges, the overall average for the United States being around $166,000. The exact salary depends upon the experience, size and type of employer, performance, and most importantly the educational qualifications, which is mostly a master's degree in business administration and management.

Although executive directors are not directly involved in the operational and quality of the work, they have a large influence on the working and functioning of these departments. This is because managing, preparing developmental plans, and the overall organizational control is in their hands.

There are tremendous career prospects in this field, as every organization needs logical thinkers, sensible planners, and efficient managers to propel them to greater heights. However, as an executive director, you need to be qualified and capable enough to handle large responsibilities, which is never an easy task.