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The differences between firewall engineers and lead systems engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a firewall engineer and a lead systems engineer. Additionally, a lead systems engineer has an average salary of $119,705, which is higher than the $99,357 average annual salary of a firewall engineer.
The top three skills for a firewall engineer include network security, cisco asa and azure. The most important skills for a lead systems engineer are systems engineering, architecture, and infrastructure.
| Firewall Engineer | Lead Systems Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $99,357 | $119,705 |
| Hourly rate | $47.77 | $57.55 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 39,291 | 186,392 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A firewall engineer is concerned about the safety and security of company websites from online attacks. A firewall is a safety measure to help protect the company's information infrastructure or business connected to the internet. The firewall engineer creates, develops, and maintains the company's online security and regularly checks websites for breaches, flaws in the code, and other technical things required to protect a company from outside internet attacks and hacking.
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.
Firewall engineers and lead systems engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Firewall Engineer | Lead Systems Engineer | |
| Average salary | $99,357 | $119,705 |
| Salary range | Between $76,000 And $128,000 | Between $90,000 And $158,000 |
| Highest paying City | Santa Clara, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Palo Alto Networks | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Start-up | Automotive |
There are a few differences between a firewall engineer and a lead systems engineer in terms of educational background:
| Firewall Engineer | Lead Systems Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | California State University - Long Beach |
Here are the differences between firewall engineers' and lead systems engineers' demographics:
| Firewall Engineer | Lead Systems Engineer | |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 93.4% Female, 6.6% | Male, 88.1% Female, 11.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.0% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.7% Asian, 13.9% White, 61.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | 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% |