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The differences between functional leads and senior associates can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a functional lead, becoming a senior associate takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a functional lead has an average salary of $113,422, which is higher than the $83,034 average annual salary of a senior associate.
The top three skills for a functional lead include ERP, client facing and enterprise solutions. The most important skills for a senior associate are project management, business development, and powerpoint.
| Functional Lead | Senior Associate | |
| Yearly salary | $113,422 | $83,034 |
| Hourly rate | $54.53 | $39.92 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 33,917 | 54,601 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Average age | 43 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 4 |
Functional leads are professionals who analyze business requirements and provide system design while implementing system solutions for various business initiatives. These professionals must work with clients and internal stakeholders to identify and understand the functional or business requirements. They must analyze and solve complex system problems so that they can improve the organization's overall Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) development and support process. Functional leads must also facilitate a team to design document control procedures that can significantly reduce process cycle time and cost.
The Responsibilities of a Senior Associate will depend on the line of organization or industry. Most of the time, the duties will revolve around conducting various testing and assessments, planning and analysis, developing innovative solutions to boost company productivity, and keeping an organized flow of documentation. Furthermore, it is the responsibility of a Senior to Associate to lead a team of skilled professionals and shape them with extensive knowledge while adhering to its policies and regulations.
Functional leads and senior associates have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Functional Lead | Senior Associate | |
| Average salary | $113,422 | $83,034 |
| Salary range | Between $85,000 And $149,000 | Between $56,000 And $121,000 |
| Highest paying City | Sunnyvale, CA | Jersey City, NJ |
| Highest paying state | California | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Airbnb | Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton |
| Best paying industry | Retail | Finance |
There are a few differences between a functional lead and a senior associate in terms of educational background:
| Functional Lead | Senior Associate | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between functional leads' and senior associates' demographics:
| Functional Lead | Senior Associate | |
| Average age | 43 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 68.1% Female, 31.9% | Male, 55.6% Female, 44.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.4% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 9.5% Asian, 24.9% White, 52.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 10.5% Unknown, 6.5% Hispanic or Latino, 15.8% Asian, 6.2% White, 60.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 12% |