What Does a Health Promotion Director Do?
Campus health survey results, showing how students sleep, drink and cope with stress, set a health promotion director's priorities for the year. The post sits in a university health center or wellness office, and it involves supervising health educators and peer educators, managing budgets and grants and working with counseling, athletics and residence life. Leading workshops is a smaller part of the job.
Also known as: Assistant Director of Health Promotion
Other Job Titles for This Work
Workers in this occupation report titles such as Cancer Center Director, Clinical Director, Health Information Management Director (HIM Director), Health Information Manager (HIM Manager), Healthcare System Director, Medical Records Director, Medical Records Manager, Mental Health Program Manager.
Health Promotion Director Duties and Responsibilities
The primary responsibilities of a health promotion director include:
- Set yearly prevention priorities from campus health survey data and student feedback.
- Supervise health educators, wellness coordinators and peer education programs.
- Manage the department budget, grants and any student health fee allocations.
- Build partnerships with counseling, athletics, residence life and student conduct offices.
- Oversee campaigns on alcohol, drugs, sexual health, sleep and mental well-being.
- Run campus health surveys such as the ACHA-NCHA and share results with leadership.
- Advise administrators on policies such as tobacco-free campus rules and alcohol at events.
- Evaluate program outcomes and write annual reports for the dean or vice president.
- Represent the office on campus committees and with local public health agencies.
- Hire, train and review staff, and plan their professional development.
Required Skills and Qualifications
To succeed as a health promotion director, you will need the following skills and qualifications:
- Program planning and evaluation at the campus level
- Budget and grant management
- Staff supervision and coaching
- Survey data analysis in Excel or SPSS
- CHES or MCHES certification
- Policy writing and presentations to senior leaders
- Collaboration across student affairs offices
- Sound judgment on sensitive topics such as sexual violence and substance use
Education and Training
Once you have spent several years as a health educator you will need to show you can manage staff and budgets before moving into an assistant director post. Many directors hold a master's degree, often an MPH. Reaching the top post without a master's might be possible, but candidates with an MPH or a master's in higher education will have the stronger application.
Salary and Job Outlook
Typical pay: varies widely for this role, and BLS does not publish pay for it separately. In the wider BLS group it belongs to (Medical and Health Services Managers), the middle half of earners made $94,700 to $166,100 a year, and the median was $123,860.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Medical and Health Services Managers.
BLS projects employment of medical and health services managers, the broad group that includes health promotion directors, to grow about 24 percent from 2025 to 2035. Much of that growth will be in hospitals, clinics and care homes, and campus wellness posts open less often. Across the group, BLS expects roughly 62,300 openings a year, and pay figures here also reflect those larger health care settings.
Outlook source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, 2025 to 2035, Medical and health services managers.
Health Promotion Director Pay Range
| Earners | Annual pay |
|---|---|
| Bottom 10% earn less than | $73,390 |
| Bottom 25% earn less than | $94,700 |
| Median (half earn more, half less) | $123,860 |
| Top 25% earn more than | $166,100 |
| Top 10% earn more than | $224,340 |
Highest-Paying States for Health Promotion Directors
The states with the highest median pay for this occupation are New York ($164,120), District of Columbia ($155,140), Hawaii ($147,630), New Jersey ($145,650), Washington ($145,290). Pay is lowest in Mississippi ($98,160), Alabama ($97,790), Arkansas ($94,340).
Median pay in all 51 states with BLS data
| State | Median annual pay |
|---|---|
| Alabama | $97,790 |
| Alaska | $132,240 |
| Arizona | $128,850 |
| Arkansas | $94,340 |
| California | $141,480 |
| Colorado | $134,910 |
| Connecticut | $130,790 |
| Delaware | $134,820 |
| District of Columbia | $155,140 |
| Florida | $120,360 |
| Georgia | $131,910 |
| Hawaii | $147,630 |
| Idaho | $117,770 |
| Illinois | $117,850 |
| Indiana | $104,140 |
| Iowa | $101,940 |
| Kansas | $111,030 |
| Kentucky | $103,450 |
| Louisiana | $104,550 |
| Maine | $120,320 |
| Maryland | $131,810 |
| Massachusetts | $134,360 |
| Michigan | $107,570 |
| Minnesota | $122,700 |
| Mississippi | $98,160 |
| Missouri | $104,370 |
| Montana | $105,840 |
| Nebraska | $107,700 |
| Nevada | $119,990 |
| New Hampshire | $130,410 |
| New Jersey | $145,650 |
| New Mexico | $124,300 |
| New York | $164,120 |
| North Carolina | $114,410 |
| North Dakota | $105,170 |
| Ohio | $106,140 |
| Oklahoma | $101,270 |
| Oregon | $141,690 |
| Pennsylvania | $103,670 |
| Rhode Island | $119,260 |
| South Carolina | $105,620 |
| South Dakota | $122,050 |
| Tennessee | $107,120 |
| Texas | $114,150 |
| Utah | $114,980 |
| Vermont | $128,690 |
| Virginia | $129,270 |
| Washington | $145,290 |
| West Virginia | $112,010 |
| Wisconsin | $128,320 |
| Wyoming | $108,030 |
What the Work Is Like
O*NET surveys people who work as medical and health services managers about their daily conditions. Of those surveyed:
- 100% use email every day
- 100% say teamwork is very or extremely important in their job
- 96% work indoors in a climate-controlled space every day
- 93% are on the phone every day
- 89% say being exact and accurate is very or extremely important
- 79% spend more than half the workday sitting
- 50% usually work more than 40 hours a week
Education Workers Say the Job Needs
| Education level | Share of workers |
|---|---|
| Bachelor's degree | 46% |
| Master's degree | 21% |
| Associate's degree | 11% |
| Post-secondary certificate | 7% |
Tools and Software Health Promotion Directors Use
Tools and equipment
Software
Is This Job a Good Fit for You?
People who do well in this job tend to enjoy leading, persuading and making business decisions as well as organized work with data, records and clear procedures.
Skills O*NET rates most important: Speaking, Critical Thinking, Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Writing, Monitoring.
Knowledge areas used most: Administration and Management, English Language, Customer and Personal Service, Personnel and Human Resources, Education and Training.
Preparation: O*NET places this occupation in Job Zone 4 of 5, which means considerable preparation.
Related Careers
These jobs use similar skills, according to O*NET's related-occupation data:
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Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, 2025 to 2035.
- O*NET 30.1 Database, occupation 11-9111.00 (Medical and Health Services Managers). View on O*NET OnLine.
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. The Job Explorer has modified some of the information; USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed or tested these changes.