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The differences between infrastructure managers and senior infrastructure engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-8 years to become an infrastructure manager, becoming a senior infrastructure engineer takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, an infrastructure manager has an average salary of $119,630, which is higher than the $117,765 average annual salary of a senior infrastructure engineer.
The top three skills for an infrastructure manager include cloud, project management and incident management. The most important skills for a senior infrastructure engineer are cloud, AWS, and linux.
| Infrastructure Manager | Senior Infrastructure Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $119,630 | $117,765 |
| Hourly rate | $57.51 | $56.62 |
| Growth rate | 16% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 57,583 | 78,855 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Average age | 47 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 8 | 2 |
An Infrastructure Manager is responsible for maintaining and overseeing an organization's network systems' performance and stability and ensuring efficiency to support business functions and operations. Infrastructure Managers work closely with the system engineers to design operating systems, enhance network infrastructure, and conduct regular configuration to prevent downtimes and system failures. They also develop techniques to keep information security for the databases to avoid unauthorized access and data leaks. An infrastructure manager must have excellent communication and technical skills to set technical solutions to maximize the staff's productivity and operational accuracy.
A senior infrastructure engineer specializes in designing and developing systems and infrastructures based on client preferences and industry standards. They have the duty to identify and understand the project's needs, streamline project requirements, produce drafts, create prototypes and models, and establish tests to identify potential issues and ensure the projects' quality. Additionally, a senior infrastructure engineer has the authority to make decisions, train and supervise junior engineers, establish goals and timelines, provide technical support, and implement policies and guidelines.
Infrastructure managers and senior infrastructure engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Infrastructure Manager | Senior Infrastructure Engineer | |
| Average salary | $119,630 | $117,765 |
| Salary range | Between $88,000 And $161,000 | Between $87,000 And $158,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Washington |
| Best paying company | Meta | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Hospitality |
There are a few differences between an infrastructure manager and a senior infrastructure engineer in terms of educational background:
| Infrastructure Manager | Senior Infrastructure Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Carnegie Mellon University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between infrastructure managers' and senior infrastructure engineers' demographics:
| Infrastructure Manager | Senior Infrastructure Engineer | |
| Average age | 47 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 91.0% Female, 9.0% | Male, 75.3% Female, 24.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.8% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 10.2% Asian, 12.6% White, 65.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 8.6% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.3% Asian, 10.7% White, 62.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 9% |