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The differences between directors of systems engineering and lead systems engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes More than 10 years to become a director of systems engineering, becoming a lead systems engineer takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a director of systems engineering has an average salary of $165,127, which is higher than the $119,705 average annual salary of a lead systems engineer.
The top three skills for a director of systems engineering include systems engineering, infrastructure and cloud. The most important skills for a lead systems engineer are systems engineering, architecture, and infrastructure.
| Director Of Systems Engineering | Lead Systems Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $165,127 | $119,705 |
| Hourly rate | $79.39 | $57.55 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 123,068 | 186,392 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Average age | 48 | 43 |
| Years of experience | - | 2 |
A director of systems engineering oversees the systems engineering department in a company, ensuring everything runs smoothly and efficiently. Having more knowledge and experience in the field, they are in charge of setting goals and guidelines, managing budgets and timelines, conducting evaluations to ensure the efficiency of all systems and procedures, performing research and analysis to determine the strengths and weaknesses of existing systems, and implementing solutions against problem areas. Moreover, as director of systems engineering, they must lead and encourage the workforce to reach goals while enforcing and promoting 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.
Directors of systems engineering and lead systems engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Director Of Systems Engineering | Lead Systems Engineer | |
| Average salary | $165,127 | $119,705 |
| Salary range | Between $113,000 And $239,000 | Between $90,000 And $158,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Automotive |
There are a few differences between a director of systems engineering and a lead systems engineer in terms of educational background:
| Director Of Systems Engineering | Lead Systems Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | University of Michigan - Ann Arbor | California State University - Long Beach |
Here are the differences between directors of systems engineering' and lead systems engineers' demographics:
| Director Of Systems Engineering | Lead Systems Engineer | |
| Average age | 48 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 92.6% Female, 7.4% | Male, 88.1% Female, 11.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 8.6% Asian, 13.4% White, 70.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | 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% |