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Executive Director (ED) jobs: 1,446 open roles, pay, industries and skills

1,446 open Executive Director jobs (ED), taken from employers’ own career sites and checked to still be open. Also listed as ED, Executive Director and CEO, President and Executive Director. Listings that state pay show a median of $160,000 a year.

The market for Executive Director work

Every figure is counted from verified open listings. Pay is what the employer advertises for the job.

Verified open Executive Director jobs
1,446

Source: NextChapter, checked against employer career sites, last 7 days.

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Median pay in listings that state it
$160,000

Source: NextChapter verified openings.

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State with the most openings
California (231)

Source: NextChapter verified openings.

Industry hiring the most
Healthcare & Hospital Systems (26%)

Source: NextChapter verified openings.

Listings that are remote
23%

Source: NextChapter verified openings.

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Listings that ask for an AI skill
5%

Source: NextChapter verified openings, read in full.

What a Executive Director does

C-suite role in Executive Leadership.

A nonprofit, association or agency: its mission, budget, staff, fundraising and the board it answers to. At some banks and firms “Executive Director” is a senior rank instead.

Reports to the board of directors.

Other ways this role is written

  • Executive Director
  • ED
  • Executive Director and CEO
  • President and Executive Director

Listings under any of these titles are counted on this page. Assistant, associate, manager and staff titles are not.

Open Executive Director jobs

Verified against the employer’s own career site within the last week.

Showing the newest 15 of about 1,446 verified open jobs here. Search all jobs

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Executive Director salary

From 299 open listings that state pay. Annual, in US dollars, base pay only.

Lower quarter
$119,000
Median
$160,000
Upper quarter
$200,000

Leadership pay often includes bonus and equity that a listing does not state. Treat these figures as the floor of the conversation, not the whole package.

Best industries for Executive Director jobs

Employers hiring the most, as a share of listings whose employer has a known industry. Median pay shown where at least 8 listings state it.

Where Executive Director jobs are

States with the most open listings; median pay where at least 8 listings state it.

Skills Executive Director jobs ask for

Named in the listings themselves, as a share of 360 Executive Director listings that name skills. Leadership listings name fewer skills than individual-contributor ones, so this is a signal, not a checklist.

Most named in Executive Director listings

  1. 1. regulatory compliance22%
  2. 2. strategic planning19%
  3. 3. budgeting18%
  4. 4. risk management17%
  5. 5. project management9%
  6. 6. onboarding9%
  7. 7. excel7%
  8. 8. forecasting7%
  9. 9. treasury6%
  10. 10. procurement6%

Across all Executive Leadership openings

  1. 1. strategic planning6%
  2. 2. budgeting6%
  3. 3. regulatory compliance5%
  4. 4. risk management5%
  5. 5. project management3%
  6. 6. forecasting3%
  7. 7. supply chain2%
  8. 8. excel2%
  9. 9. audit2%
  10. 10. procurement2%

AI skills for Executive Director jobs

Specific AI skills named in the full posting text, such as prompt engineering, AI governance or an AI tool. A general mention of AI does not count.

5% of 376 open Executive Director listings ask for a specific AI skill, against 2% of all Executive Leadership openings.

AI skills named most often

  1. 1. AI tools in daily work2%
  2. 2. Model training and deep learning1%
  3. 3. AI strategy and use cases1%
  4. 4. AI governance and risk1%
  5. 5. Leading AI teams1%
  6. 6. Gen-AI content tools1%

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Job titles under Executive Director

The exact titles employers use, with their own job and salary pages.

Employers hiring for Executive Director roles

  • JPMorgan Chase 152
  • Confidential 69
  • Brookdale Senior Living 28
  • Testing Site - JPMC 15
  • Sunrise Senior Living 11
  • DTCC 10
  • JPMorganChase 10
  • DSG Global 9
  • Potrero Group 8
  • Chase 7
  • Dallas Independent School District 7
  • Aviation Institute of Maintenance 7

Executive Director questions

What does a Executive Director do?
A nonprofit, association or agency: its mission, budget, staff, fundraising and the board it answers to. At some banks and firms “Executive Director” is a senior rank instead. Reports to the board of directors.
What does ED stand for?
ED stands for Executive Director. The same job is also written Executive Director and CEO, President and Executive Director.
How many Executive Director jobs are open?
1,446 verified open Executive Director jobs, each checked against the employer’s own career site within the last week.
How much does a Executive Director make?
Among 299 open Executive Director listings that state pay, the median is $160,000 a year, and half of listings fall between $119,000 and $200,000. This is pay the employer advertises for the job, not total compensation such as bonus or equity.
Where are Executive Director jobs?
California (231), New York (228), Texas (160), Florida (124) have the most open Executive Director listings. About 23% of listings that state a work arrangement are remote.
Which state pays a Executive Director the most?
Of the states with enough listings that state pay, New Jersey has the highest median at $205,000.
Which industries hire for Executive Director roles?
Healthcare & Hospital Systems (26%), Financial Services & Banking (20%), Education & EdTech (19%), Nonprofit & Social Impact (19%), as a share of listings whose employer has a known industry.
What skills do Executive Director jobs ask for?
The skills named most often in open Executive Director listings are regulatory compliance, strategic planning, budgeting, risk management, project management.
Do Executive Director jobs ask for AI skills?
5% of 376 open Executive Director listings read in full name a specific AI skill. The most common is AI tools in daily work.

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