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The differences between lead contractors and operations specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a lead contractor has an average salary of $97,028, which is higher than the $54,752 average annual salary of an operations specialist.
The top three skills for a lead contractor include project management, contract management and powerpoint. The most important skills for an operations specialist are customer service, logistics, and basic math.
| Lead Contractor | Operations Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $97,028 | $54,752 |
| Hourly rate | $46.65 | $26.32 |
| Growth rate | - | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 18,840 | 109,181 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 57% | Bachelor's Degree, 57% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
A lead contractor is someone who is in charge of designing, building, and the engineering elements of a construction project. Lead contractors serve as the prime subcontractors to a development entity. They direct contract administration for the services and commodities as the team leads. It is part of their responsibilities to be goal-oriented with consistent meetings and create project management-related objectives. Also, they implement failure analysis and its modes and project management practices while they develop the failure analysis program.
An operations specialist is responsible for optimizing the business' daily operations, ensuring smooth process flow to provide the best services to clients. Operations specialists' duties include analyzing business procedures, identifying opportunities for business improvement, tracking the department's metrics and activities, providing assistance to colleagues, suggesting strategies for operations efficiency, and managing customer's inquiries and complaints. An operations specialist must be an excellent team player and detail-oriented, as well as proven time-management and decision-making skills to meet clients' needs and support the business' objectives.
Lead contractors and operations specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Lead Contractor | Operations Specialist | |
| Average salary | $97,028 | $54,752 |
| Salary range | Between $61,000 And $151,000 | Between $35,000 And $85,000 |
| Highest paying City | Livermore, CA | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | California | Rhode Island |
| Best paying company | Parker Drilling Co | Coatue Management |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Government |
There are a few differences between a lead contractor and an operations specialist in terms of educational background:
| Lead Contractor | Operations Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 57% | Bachelor's Degree, 57% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between lead contractors' and operations specialists' demographics:
| Lead Contractor | Operations Specialist | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 62.1% Female, 37.9% | Male, 50.6% Female, 49.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 8.8% White, 70.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 8.8% White, 70.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |