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The differences between consultant systems engineers and lead systems engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a consultant systems engineer and a lead systems engineer. Additionally, a lead systems engineer has an average salary of $119,705, which is higher than the $112,898 average annual salary of a consultant systems engineer.
The top three skills for a consultant systems engineer include infrastructure, cloud and pre sales. The most important skills for a lead systems engineer are systems engineering, architecture, and infrastructure.
| Consultant Systems Engineer | Lead Systems Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $112,898 | $119,705 |
| Hourly rate | $54.28 | $57.55 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 144,261 | 186,392 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A consultant systems engineer specializes in designing and developing systems to optimize business operations, recommending solutions against problem areas. Among their responsibilities include gathering and analyzing data to identify the needs of operations, designing prototypes and test structures, performing research and analysis to determine the ideal practices, assessing existing systems to identify their strengths and weaknesses, and establishing guidelines. Moreover, a consultant systems engineer must maintain an active communication line with staff, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
A lead systems engineer is responsible for maintaining the safety and security of the systems infrastructure and improving the stability of the operating systems to support business operations. Lead systems engineers install and upgrade software applications and ensure that the technical strategies meet the quality standards and business requirements. They also enhance the performance of the existing systems, configuring features for optimization. A lead systems engineer must have excellent communication and technical skills, especially in supporting the end-users with technical failures and identifying accurate resolutions.
Consultant systems engineers and lead systems engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Consultant Systems Engineer | Lead Systems Engineer | |
| Average salary | $112,898 | $119,705 |
| Salary range | Between $90,000 And $141,000 | Between $90,000 And $158,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | California |
| Best paying company | Fortinet | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Automotive |
There are a few differences between a consultant systems engineer and a lead systems engineer in terms of educational background:
| Consultant Systems Engineer | Lead Systems Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | California State University - Long Beach | California State University - Long Beach |
Here are the differences between consultant systems engineers' and lead systems engineers' demographics:
| Consultant Systems Engineer | Lead Systems Engineer | |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 86.1% Female, 13.9% | Male, 88.1% Female, 11.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 12.2% Asian, 12.7% White, 61.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 8.7% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.4% Asian, 12.5% White, 61.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |