How do you become a global director?

To become a global director, a person needs to gain experience, education, and leadership skills. Becoming a global director typically takes at least ten years of work experience. This is a senior-level position and typically takes significant work experience and knowledge to achieve.

How much does a global director make?

A global director makes an average salary of $130,000 in a year. However, this can range from $100,000 to over $200,000 in a year. Highly experienced global directors should expect to earn over $170,000 a year, with the top ten percent earning over $200,000 in a year. Meanwhile, new global directors should anticipate lower salaries ranging from $80,000 to $100,000 a year.

How To Become A Global Director: What It Is and Career Path

What is a global director and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

A global director manages the operations of an organization on a global scale. They are responsible for implementing strategies to promote growth of the business across multiple regions of the world. These directors oversee teams from diverse backgrounds, and must be adaptable to a variety of cultural norms. Global directors must be prepared to navigate international legal and regulatory frameworks, and must stay up-to-date on global market trends to make informed business decisions.

ScoreGlobal DirectorUS Average

Salary

9.1

Avg. Salary $157,749

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

7.5

Growth Rate 10%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.23%

Asian 8.15%

Black or African American 3.04%

Hispanic or Latino 8.67%

Unknown 5.32%

White 74.58%

Gender

female 25.52%

male 74.48%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress Level

7.5

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

9.0

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

3.5

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

What are the pros and cons of being a Global Director?

Pros:

High salary and competitive benefits
Exposure to senior leadership roles
Opportunity to learn new languages and skills
Sense of achievement from delivering successful global projects
Job security due to high demand for global directors

Cons:

Frequent travel can be tiring and disruptive to personal life
Language barriers can hinder communication and collaboration
Cultural differences can create misunderstandings and conflict
Pressure to deliver results on a global scale can be intense
Risk of burnout due to long work hours and high expectations

Key steps to become a global director

Explore global director education requirements

Most common global director degrees

Bachelor's

68.3 %

Master's

23.3 %

Associate

4.5 %

Start to develop specific global director skills

Skills	Percentages
Project Management	8.14%
Cloud	4.77%
HR	4.47%
Oversight	3.90%
Continuous Improvement	3.66%

Complete relevant global director training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New global directors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a global director based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real global director resumes.

Research global director duties and responsibilities

Lead all communication, development and employee training efforts with ERP software provider.
Create and maintain reports and dashboards for measuring global leads, opportunities and tracking company KPIs.
Manage vast data sources in order to align metrics to behavioral change and KPIs meaningful to business interfaces and leadership team.
Manage cloud software for shipping visibility of ocean containers, tendering and contract management, maximizing leverage and oversight.

Get global director experience

Generally, it takes 8-10 years to become a global director. The most common roles before becoming a global director include director, vice president team lead and manager.

Prepare your global director resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your global director resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a global director resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Global Director Resume templates

Build a professional Global Director resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Global Director resume.

Apply for global director jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a global director job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do global directors rate their job?

-/5

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Global Director reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Sep 2023

Pros

Rule of thumb with international travel is be ready for serious jet-lag!

Cons

rule of thumb with international travel is to have jet-lag non-stop!