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The differences between application leads and application specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become an application lead, becoming an application specialist takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, an application lead has an average salary of $112,992, which is higher than the $84,635 average annual salary of an application specialist.
The top three skills for an application lead include java, architecture and emerging technologies. The most important skills for an application specialist are customer service, customer satisfaction, and technical support.
| Application Lead | Application Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $112,992 | $84,635 |
| Hourly rate | $54.32 | $40.69 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 163,233 | 96,980 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Average age | 43 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 2 |
A lead applications developer is in charge of directing the development department in applications design, creation, coding, debugging, and testing. Lead applications developers serve as mentors for lower-level or new software programmers or developers. They supervise the development team members in pair programming, code reviews, and good development principle promotions. Their duties include the coordination of the schedule of development staff. Also, they ensure effective communication between the team members and the other IT functions.
An application specialist is responsible for maintaining the optimal performance of system applications, ensuring smooth navigation by upgrading the features of existing applications, and performing multiple diagnostic tests before releasing the applications to the digital marketplace. Application specialists work closely with the design engineers to improve system codes, verify the efficiency of network infrastructure, and adjusting application functions based on the clients' specifications and business' needs. They should always consider the budget goals, target end-users, and current market trends to design applications, meeting users' demands and public interests.
Application leads and application specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Application Lead | Application Specialist | |
| Average salary | $112,992 | $84,635 |
| Salary range | Between $86,000 And $147,000 | Between $60,000 And $118,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Jersey City, NJ |
| Highest paying state | Oregon | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Cheniere Energy | |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between an application lead and an application specialist in terms of educational background:
| Application Lead | Application Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between application leads' and application specialists' demographics:
| Application Lead | Application Specialist | |
| Average age | 43 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 73.7% Female, 26.3% | Male, 53.7% Female, 46.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.5% Asian, 22.6% White, 52.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 10.8% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.7% Asian, 11.1% White, 55.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 11% |