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The differences between contracting officers and operations associates can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a contracting officer has an average salary of $60,007, which is higher than the $52,703 average annual salary of an operations associate.
The top three skills for a contracting officer include contractor proposals, contract administration and contract management. The most important skills for an operations associate are customer service, sales floor, and basic math.
| Contracting Officer | Operations Associate | |
| Yearly salary | $60,007 | $52,703 |
| Hourly rate | $28.85 | $25.34 |
| Growth rate | - | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 59,896 | 70,275 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 58% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
In government agencies, a Contracting Officer plays a vital role in securing contracts for different projects. They are responsible for liaising with internal and external parties, conducting research and analyses, developing plans to attain project requirements, negotiating contracts, and procuring materials according to standards. They are also responsible for supervising the administrative processes related to the deals, from planning to execution, ensuring that everything runs smoothly and efficiently. Moreover, it is essential to function as a contracting officer while adhering to government policies and regulations.
An operations associate is responsible for performing administrative and clerical tasks to support the organization's daily operations. An operations associate must have excellent organizational skills to perform various duties for different business functions under the supervision of an operations manager. Operations associates respond to clients' inquiries and concerns, prepare meeting reports, schedule appointments, assisting on payroll release, update employees' information on the database, process contract agreements, and help the senior management to identify business opportunities that would generate revenues.
Contracting officers and operations associates have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Contracting Officer | Operations Associate | |
| Average salary | $60,007 | $52,703 |
| Salary range | Between $37,000 And $95,000 | Between $28,000 And $95,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | Maryland | New York |
| Best paying company | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory | Biogen |
| Best paying industry | Government | - |
There are a few differences between a contracting officer and an operations associate in terms of educational background:
| Contracting Officer | Operations Associate | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 58% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Western Carolina University | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between contracting officers' and operations associates' demographics:
| Contracting Officer | Operations Associate | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 65.7% Female, 34.3% | Male, 50.2% Female, 49.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 8.8% White, 70.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 8.8% White, 70.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |