Data consultant vs lead consultant

The differences between data consultants and lead consultants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a data consultant, becoming a lead consultant takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a lead consultant has an average salary of $103,221, which is higher than the $94,945 average annual salary of a data consultant.

The top three skills for a data consultant include analytics, data quality and data management. The most important skills for a lead consultant are customer service, digital transformation, and business process.

Data consultant vs lead consultant overview

	Data Consultant	Lead Consultant
Yearly salary	$94,945	$103,221
Hourly rate	$45.65	$49.63
Growth rate	11%	9%
Number of jobs	149,791	78,252
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 61%	Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Average age	44	43
Years of experience	4	6

What does a data consultant do?

A data consultant is primarily responsible for devising strategies on finding data and utilizing them according to the needs of a company. Most of the time, they are in charge of gathering data through various means and opportunities, maintaining and designing a database, coordinating with multiple data specialists, inspecting data for any inconsistencies, and performing corrective measures. Furthermore, a data consultant may develop systems and networks for data storage, all while adhering to the policies and standards of the company.

What does a lead consultant do?

The lead consultants oversee the work of a consultant team and are responsible for offering clients their advice and recommendations on the given project. They are multi-focus experts that assist the company in improving its business performance by acting as liaisons between clients and the consultancy team. Their main job is to ensure the daily management of client's projects. They help the client identify and understand their needs together with finding solutions to their difficulties. Additionally, they analyze and review proposals from the team and then provide relevant solutions to the problems.

Data consultant vs lead consultant salary

Data consultants and lead consultants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Data Consultant	Lead Consultant
Average salary	$94,945	$103,221
Salary range	Between $70,000 And $127,000	Between $80,000 And $132,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	Alaska
Best paying company	Google	Google
Best paying industry	Health Care	Technology

Differences between data consultant and lead consultant education

There are a few differences between a data consultant and a lead consultant in terms of educational background:

	Data Consultant	Lead Consultant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 61%	Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	Stanford University

Data consultant vs lead consultant demographics

Here are the differences between data consultants' and lead consultants' demographics:

	Data Consultant	Lead Consultant
Average age	44	43
Gender ratio	Male, 63.2% Female, 36.8%	Male, 67.9% Female, 32.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.4% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 8.4% Asian, 14.3% White, 65.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 9.9% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.7% Asian, 19.5% White, 54.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	12%	8%

Differences between data consultant and lead consultant duties and responsibilities

Data consultant example responsibilities.

Used SSRS to create and manage a number of complex reports according to user specifications.
Analyze, document and manage all project requirements and changes to the requirements throughout the SDLC.
Design and manage postgres database schemas; configure postgres servers in Linux environments to meet business requirements.
Manage weapon system project websites via SharePoint, including troubleshooting technical issues and developing guidelines for public/private information and user permissions.
Implement data extraction, transformation and load processes in a parallel framework.
Compile a written report highlighting exploratory data analysis, visualization, and predictions.

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Lead consultant example responsibilities.

Lead a team of 10 members including both onsite and offshore.
Create and manage financial feed from BW to Hyperion for corporate reporting and processing.
Manage design and development of cloud-base billing application for streamlining payroll and invoicing, as well as offering real-time business analytics.
Create mainframe XML parsers and XML generators using COBOL.
Work onsite at client's home office in Washington, DC.
Design and implement test cases for verifying proper behavior of a large & complex ERP project viz.

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Data consultant vs lead consultant skills

Common data consultant skills

Analytics, 13%
Data Quality, 7%
Data Management, 6%
Data Governance, 5%
Informatica, 4%
Master Data, 4%

Common lead consultant skills

Customer Service, 11%
Digital Transformation, 10%
Business Process, 9%
Project Management, 5%
Architecture, 5%
App Development, 4%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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