Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between functional analysts and analyst leads can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a functional analyst and an analyst lead. Additionally, a functional analyst has an average salary of $96,841, which is higher than the $95,264 average annual salary of an analyst lead.
The top three skills for a functional analyst include business process, lifecycle management and HR. The most important skills for an analyst lead are analytics, data analysis, and project management.
| Functional Analyst | Analyst Lead | |
| Yearly salary | $96,841 | $95,264 |
| Hourly rate | $46.56 | $45.80 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 52,085 | 122,353 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
Functional analysts are professionals specializing in a specific line of business, technology, and industry. They collect information by interviewing managers and employees and studying the company's systems and procedures. They design computer systems that meet business requirements and prepare reports for the managers. Additional duties for this role include installing and configuring new systems, running tests to ensure that specifications are met, and writing user manuals. Functional analysts are also responsible for conducting training on new capabilities to existing end-users.
The duties of an analyst lead depend on one's line of work or industry of employment. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around performing research and analysis, coordinating with different departments to gather leads and data, reviewing findings, and producing reports and presentations for the stakeholders and other higher-ranking officials. Through the results, an analyst lead can provide advice, devise strategies for business optimization, spearhead the development of processes, identify strengths and weaknesses, and offer recommendations on areas in need of improvement. All of this is done while in adherence to the company's vision and mission.
Functional analysts and analyst leads have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Functional Analyst | Analyst Lead | |
| Average salary | $96,841 | $95,264 |
| Salary range | Between $71,000 And $131,000 | Between $74,000 And $122,000 |
| Highest paying City | Mountain View, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Mexico | California |
| Best paying company | Apple | |
| Best paying industry | Retail | Finance |
There are a few differences between a functional analyst and an analyst lead in terms of educational background:
| Functional Analyst | Analyst Lead | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between functional analysts' and analyst leads' demographics:
| Functional Analyst | Analyst Lead | |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 55.9% Female, 44.1% | Male, 62.4% Female, 37.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.0% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.8% Asian, 19.5% White, 54.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.3% Asian, 14.4% White, 58.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 8% |