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Contracting officer vs senior advisor

The differences between contracting officers and senior advisors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a senior advisor has an average salary of $119,558, which is higher than the $60,007 average annual salary of a contracting officer.

The top three skills for a contracting officer include contractor proposals, contract administration and contract management. The most important skills for a senior advisor are healthcare, project management, and risk management.

Contracting officer vs senior advisor overview

Contracting OfficerSenior Advisor
Yearly salary$60,007$119,558
Hourly rate$28.85$57.48
Growth rate-10%
Number of jobs59,89645,673
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 58%Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Average age4444
Years of experience--

What does a contracting officer do?

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.

What does a senior advisor do?

A senior advisor's responsibilities will vary on the type of industry where one is involved. However, most of it will revolve around sharing extensive expertise and knowledge that is vital in a company's decision-making processes. A senior advisor must also conduct research and analysis, inspect issues, implement policies, and devise strategies that will benefit the company. Furthermore, as a senior advisor, they may have the task of mentoring less experienced professionals in their joint effort to bring more profit and significant results to the company.

Contracting officer vs senior advisor salary

Contracting officers and senior advisors have different pay scales, as shown below.

Contracting OfficerSenior Advisor
Average salary$60,007$119,558
Salary rangeBetween $37,000 And $95,000Between $87,000 And $162,000
Highest paying CityWashington, DCRichmond, CA
Highest paying stateMarylandCalifornia
Best paying companyPacific Northwest National LaboratoryKirkland & Ellis
Best paying industryGovernmentProfessional

Differences between contracting officer and senior advisor education

There are a few differences between a contracting officer and a senior advisor in terms of educational background:

Contracting OfficerSenior Advisor
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 58%Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeWestern Carolina UniversityWestern Carolina University

Contracting officer vs senior advisor demographics

Here are the differences between contracting officers' and senior advisors' demographics:

Contracting OfficerSenior Advisor
Average age4444
Gender ratioMale, 65.7% Female, 34.3%Male, 68.2% Female, 31.8%
Race ratioBlack 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 Percentage11%11%

Differences between contracting officer and senior advisor duties and responsibilities

Contracting officer example responsibilities.

  • Compile RFQ's, internet research, and manage officers.
  • Manage the RFQ and RFP solicitation process with campus departments to ensure legal and ethical compliance with state statutes.
  • Analyze requirements' effects on budget and formulate alternative logistics plans when operations or requirements change to accomplish unit's mission.
  • Perform market analysis of government agencies utilizing and not utilizing GSA travel services to capture undeveloped market.
  • Implement GSA assist acquisition service to provide task order support for federal agencies procuring ETS2 master contract.
  • Resolve day to day issues between personnel, contracting companies, base operations, government personnel and the DoD.
  • Show more

Senior advisor example responsibilities.

  • Manage evaluations and assessments to enhance USAID's utilization of information for decision making in designing and managing programs.
  • Lead the team evaluating technologies for the next generation access API.
  • Develop and manage detailed and tailor raining packages for USMC personnel.
  • Manage CVS source code repository for multiple projects on Linux platform.
  • Task manage project migration from IBM AIX system to RedHat Linux platform.
  • Assist QA in managing changes to test environment and develop test plans, including test cases & scripts.
  • Show more

Contracting officer vs senior advisor skills

Common contracting officer skills
  • Contractor Proposals, 8%
  • Contract Administration, 7%
  • Contract Management, 5%
  • Contract Terms, 5%
  • Market Research, 4%
  • Technical Assistance, 4%
Common senior advisor skills
  • Healthcare, 9%
  • Project Management, 8%
  • Risk Management, 8%
  • Customer Service, 7%
  • Infrastructure, 5%
  • PowerPoint, 5%

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