NJ Civil Service Navigator

Director Family

Career series with 115 positions across 2 levels

In New Jersey civil service, Director names a 2-level progression covering 115 distinct titles.

Entry is typically through Director 2, Education, advancing through the ladder toward Director 1, Education. Pay across the family spans $53,632 to $209,444, around the 99th percentile of all civil service job families by top pay. State payroll records show 62 people across the family's titles, most concentrated at Health and Senior Services.

115
Positions
2
Career Levels
100
Specializations
Salary Range: $53,632 - $209,444/year

Specializations

Communications Center Community Development Program Division Of Administration Public Defender Division Of Animal Health Laboratory Services Division Of Banking Division Of Financial Management Planning And General Services Division Of Fish And Wildlife Division Of Gaming Enforcement +92 more

Positions in This Family

... and 100 more positions

What the Director family covers

Director covers 115 title codes arranged into 2 levels of responsibility. The family straddles jurisdictions: 61 state and 49 local, so parts of it are hired by state departments and parts by local civil service employers.

The generic rank families are the hardest part of the classification plan to read, because the title deliberately says nothing about the subject matter. A single code can cover the head of one bureau and the head of a completely unrelated one, which is exactly why cross-agency salary comparison breaks down in this group and why the site flags several of these titles as generic. Most sit in the managerial or unclassified service, meaning individually set salaries, appointment at the employer's discretion, and no eligible list to wait on.

The ladder, ordered by pay

The Director rungs, listed from the best paid down. Note that the numbers in these titles do not run in pay order. In this family a lower number sits higher on the ladder, which is a New Jersey convention that catches people out when they read a title list top to bottom.

Showing the 12 best paid of 42 titles with published salary data.

The distance from the bottom of Director of Medical Security to the top of Director Division of Financial Management Planning and General Services is $155,812, an increase of about 291% over the entry minimum. 29 of the 115 titles in the family sit on a schedule whose rates are frozen, so the published figure there is the schedule of record rather than a guide to actual pay.

What each title does

Reading the definitions side by side is the quickest way to see what changes as you move through the family.

  • Director of Clinical Nutrition: Under general direction has responsibility for coordinating, directing, and evaluating the services provided by all nutritionists of lower grade; provides…
  • Director, Licensing, Certification, and Standards Service: Under direction of the Assistant Commissioner for the Division of Health Facilities Evaluation and Licensing, plans, coordinates…
  • Director of Health Education: Under direction of the Health Officer, manages a program of public health education involving the assessment of individual and community health education…
  • Director of Quality Assurance: Under the direction of the chief executive officer or other administrative official in a state department, institution, or agency, at a facility in the NJ…
  • Director Office of Planning: Under the direction of the Director, Division of Mental Health and Hospitals, plans, develops and implements a continuing community-based mental health…
  • Director of Solid Waste Management: Under direction, promotes, organizes and administers an effective solid waste management program including the determination of program goals…
  • Director Economic Development Program: Under direction, is responsible for the planning, organization, development and supervision of an Economic Development Program; does related work as…
  • Director of Administration and Program Development: Under direction, serves as the chief advisor to a principal executive officer and is responsible for planning, organizing, directing…

Showing 8 of 103 published definitions in this family. The full list of titles is below.

Requirements across the family

Across the 115 titles we have parsed, the education requirements read as a bachelor's degree on 42 of them, a master's degree on 31 of them, a doctoral degree on 11 of them, and a high school diploma on 2 of them. Stated experience runs from 1 year at the lowest rung to 10 at the highest, which is the main thing separating one level from the next.

11 of the 115 titles carry a license or certification requirement. On how the jobs are filled: 52 are competitive, filled from an eligible list after an open competitive or promotional examination, 10 are non-competitive, appointed on proof of the stated qualifications rather than by examination, and 35 are unclassified, which means appointment at the employer's discretion and salary set individually.

Who actually employs these titles

62 people appear on the state payroll under 22 of these titles, at 15 agencies. Health and Senior Services alone accounts for about 29% of them.

  • Health and Senior Services — 18 employees
  • Human Services — 8 employees
  • Treasury — 8 employees
  • Corrections — 7 employees
  • Education — 7 employees
  • Children and Families — 3 employees

Those are the 6 largest of 15 agencies employing this family.

Median actual pay varies across the family, from $93,500 for Director of Administration up to $350,000 for Director, Division of Investment. Those are medians of what people are really paid, not schedule minimums and maximums.

State payroll only, deduplicated by payroll title; local employers file separately, so a family with local codes looks smaller here than it is. How this is counted.

How the pay is set

The family is split across 5 salary schedules (A-P-R-S, M, M-Represented, MD, and X), so two titles that look adjacent can be paid from different tables with different step structures. More than one union has members in this family: CWA and IBEW.

Where these jobs exist

Because the family mixes jurisdictions, the answer to "who hires this" depends on the specific code. State codes run through the Civil Service Commission's announcement and eligible list process; local codes are hired by the counties, municipalities and authorities that adopted civil service under Title 11A. Check an employer's status before assuming a title is available where you live.

Related titles elsewhere in the plan

Other classifications built on the same terms as Director. Worth checking if this family has no current opening.

Common questions about Director jobs

How many separate Director classifications does New Jersey have?

The Director family holds 115 title codes arranged across 2 levels. Each code is a separate classification with its own published specification, requirements and salary treatment.

How much is a Director paid?

Published salary data for this family runs from $53,632 at the bottom of Director of Medical Security to $209,444 at the top of Director Division of Financial Management Planning and General Services. Those are schedule figures. Where the title appears on the state payroll, actual median pay is listed on the page above.

Is there a civil service test for Director?

Yes for most of the family. 52 of the 115 titles are in the competitive division, which means appointment comes from an eligible list built by an open competitive or promotional examination.

What are the requirements to become a Director?

The most common education requirement in this family is a bachelor's degree, named on 42 of the 115 titles. Stated experience ranges from 1 to 10 years depending on the rung. 11 of the titles also require a license or certification. Read the individual specification for the exact wording, including any experience substitution.

Which agencies employ Director staff?

State payroll records show 62 people in this family across 15 agencies, with Health and Senior Services the largest at 18. Local government employers are not covered by that extract.

Is Director 1 higher or lower than Director 3?

In this family the lower number is the more senior title. New Jersey's level numbering does not run in pay order, and reading the titles by number alone will give you the ladder upside down. The list above is sorted by what each title actually pays.