Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between contracts administrators and senior purchasing agents can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a contracts administrator and a senior purchasing agent. Additionally, a senior purchasing agent has an average salary of $73,386, which is higher than the $52,876 average annual salary of a contracts administrator.
The top three skills for a contracts administrator include contract administration, customer service and contract management. The most important skills for a senior purchasing agent are purchase orders, project management, and supplier relationships.
| Contracts Administrator | Senior Purchasing Agent | |
| Yearly salary | $52,876 | $73,386 |
| Hourly rate | $25.42 | $35.28 |
| Growth rate | -6% | -6% |
| Number of jobs | 58,038 | 43,833 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 48 | 48 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
Contract administrators create and manage legal contracts from which the company participates. They ensure that all entities to the contract will accomplish their obligations, as indicated in the contract. They usually work for larger organizations that might be involved with different or highly complex contracts. These organizations spread across a range of industries, including government, construction, and healthcare. Their responsibilities include addressing any conflicts of questions regarding the contract, analyzing the possible risks posed by contracts, and working alongside the legal and procurement teams.
Senior Purchasing Agents are experienced employees in the company's purchasing department. They oversee the purchase requisitions of the employees. They validate requests, ensure that the requestors followed company guidelines, check the availability of the items with the chosen supplier, and forward the purchase order to the supplier. Upon fulfillment of the request, Senior Purchasing Agents check the deliveries, ensure that the items are complete and correct, forward the items to the requestor, and process the payment for the supplier. Senior Purchasing agents also prepare reports, spot trends in employee or department purchases, and create recommendations based on observations. They are also expected to form good working relationships with suppliers.
Contracts administrators and senior purchasing agents have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Contracts Administrator | Senior Purchasing Agent | |
| Average salary | $52,876 | $73,386 |
| Salary range | Between $35,000 And $78,000 | Between $52,000 And $103,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Maryland | New York |
| Best paying company | Ngam Advisors, L.P. | Levi Strauss & Co. |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Energy |
There are a few differences between a contracts administrator and a senior purchasing agent in terms of educational background:
| Contracts Administrator | Senior Purchasing Agent | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between contracts administrators' and senior purchasing agents' demographics:
| Contracts Administrator | Senior Purchasing Agent | |
| Average age | 48 | 48 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 32.2% Female, 67.8% | Male, 57.7% Female, 42.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 12.6% Asian, 7.7% White, 65.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | Black or African American, 8.9% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 12.3% Asian, 7.7% White, 66.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |