The director of growth is a key position that focuses on building additional growth in struggling areas of an organization and supporting success in other areas. Learn more about this critical leadership role here.
A company may have a great product or service, but it can go unrecognized without marketing to attract customers. A director of growth is responsible for strategizing ways to grow a company's marketing presence and drive revenue. As a result, they'll typically collaborate with and lead sales, products, and engineering teams to launch creative marketing content.
Read on to learn more about this fast-paced, multifaceted role, including job duties in this role, educational requirements, salary potential, and career outlook.
Read more: Marketing: What Is It and Why Do Companies Need It?
The director of growth—sometimes referred to as a director of growth marketing, operational growth head, or director of growth and development—is a senior-level position that oversees growth initiatives across an organization. This growth can include customer visits to the website, views and engagement on social media, conversions, overall revenue, and more. Wherever a company can grow, this director has involvement in it.
The director of growth takes marketing, sales, and product teams and combines their operations to meet the company’s key performance metrics (KPIs) to help ensure its continued growth and success. These KPIs can include:
Customer loyalty and advocacy
Customer base expansion and growth
Increased customer flow through the sales funnel
Driving conversions and revenue
Read more: Marketing Management: What Is It and Why Does It Matter?
Five primary responsibilities fall on the director of growth: data analysis, growth plan definition, prioritizing growth initiatives, executing growth initiatives, and revenue funnel optimization. Typical duties include:
Using your analytical and science-driven knowledge to help develop reporting to show growth patterns
Using data to lay out an organization’s growth plan and forecast where the business is headed
Analyzing areas of improvement for marketing strategies
Ability to use tools and software like email marketing, customer relationship management (CRM), and more to increase revenue
A director of growth requires a large skill set, but you don’t necessarily need to be an expert in every area. However, two key skills to have are collaboration and project management.
Collaboration. You'll use your collaboration skills to work with various teams and connect segmented teams to achieve a common goal.
Project management. You'll use management skills to help keep teams on task and working together to ensure they meet their goals.
Keep in mind that these are some of the skills a director of growth requires. You will need working knowledge of the areas you’ll manage, including SEO, customer acquisition, digital marketing, traditional marketing strategy, and more. You must also exhibit a strong understanding of the following subjects:
Oversight
ROI management and monitoring
Strategic planning
Project management skills
Business and professional development
Read more: 11 Key Project Management Skills
According to Glassdoor, the estimated total pay for director of growth in the US is $214,134 per year. This figure includes an average base salary of $139,523 and $74,611 in additional pay. Additional pay may represent profit-sharing, commissions, or bonuses. [1].
This role would also fall under the larger advertising, promotions, and marketing managers umbrella, which the US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates will grow by 6 percent from 2022 to 2032 [2]. That is faster than the average occupation in the US.
To succeed as a director of growth, one must have some experience in marketing or product management. Many start in one of those two departments after gaining the required education.
Some entry-level roles to consider on the marketing side include:
Communications specialist
Marketing assistant
Social media coordinator
Junior business analyst
SEO analyst
Once you've gained experience, you can move into more senior roles, including public relations (PR) manager, brand manager, SEO manager, and others. And after gaining experience in these roles, you may be ready to move up to a director-level role on the growth team.
If you take the product path, you may start as a junior product manager before working up to associate product manager and advancing toward a product manager or senior product manager role. At the senior level, you may develop the skills needed to land a director of growth position. Alternatively, you can continue the product path to become a lead product manager and head of product before trying to land the director-level role.
No formal requirements exist to get into marketing management, which includes the director of growth role. However, organizations can set their own requirements. Most will require at least a bachelor’s degree in marketing or a related field, such as business administration. Some may require more advanced degrees, including a master’s degree or PhD. Keep in mind your experience may leave a lasting impression on future employers compared to formal education.
As you work through your career and head toward becoming a director of growth, some marketing- and project-management-focused certifications can help display your expertise. Obtaining a certification is a great way to showcase dedication to your career, skills, and industry knowledge. Some options to consider include:
Professional Certified Marketer (PCM)
Master Project Manager (MPM) credential
You can also earn a Google Ads certification or a Meta Blueprint certification.
Ready to dive into a career as a director of growth? You can learn what to expect from the role by taking a few informative courses on Coursera. Some great options include Google’s Google Digital Marketing & E-Commerce Professional Certificate and Foundations in Digital Marketing and E-Commerce courses. If you want something more introductory, you can opt for the University of Pennsylvania’s Introduction to Marketing. Upon completing any program, gain a shareable Professional Certificate to include in your resume, CV, or LinkedIn profile.
Glassdoor. “How much does a Director of Growth make?, https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/director-of-growth-salary-SRCH_KO0,18.htm?clickSource=searchBtn.” Accessed March 18, 2024.
US Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Advertising, Promotions, and Marketing Managers, https://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/advertising-promotions-and-marketing-managers.htm.” Accessed March 18, 2024.
Editorial Team
Coursera’s editorial team is comprised of highly experienced professional editors, writers, and fact...
This content has been made available for informational purposes only. Learners are advised to conduct additional research to ensure that courses and other credentials pursued meet their personal, professional, and financial goals.