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The differences between lead field engineers and lead field technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-8 years to become a lead field engineer, becoming a lead field technician takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a lead field engineer has an average salary of $72,264, which is higher than the $40,838 average annual salary of a lead field technician.
The top three skills for a lead field engineer include project management, customer satisfaction and logistics. The most important skills for a lead field technician are customer service, data collection, and GPS.
| Lead Field Engineer | Lead Field Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $72,264 | $40,838 |
| Hourly rate | $34.74 | $19.63 |
| Growth rate | 8% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 63,711 | 88,080 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 45% |
| Average age | 43 | 38 |
| Years of experience | 8 | 2 |
A lead field engineer tests, commissions, programs, troubleshoot, repairs, retrofits, and installs voltage power system devices. A lead field engineer also tests, commissions, troubleshoot, repairs, erects, upgrades, and vacuum-fills various transformers. Besides testing, commissioning, troubleshooting, repairing, erecting, and upgrading various voltage ratings and switchgear, a lead field engineer also schedules and executes projects on-budget and within the agreed timeline. Moreover, a lead field engineer identifies and implements standardization and improvement processes and costs to improve cost productivity.
The Lead Field Technician serves as the assistant of the Field Supervisor. Their responsibility includes taking immediate action and making decisions for instances that individuals or organizations need their help. They are the one who implements and monitors a company's guidelines and policy and maintains the standard procedure of all the systems. Also, being an assistant, they can act as an overseer to determine the employees and equipment types that need to work smoothly and orderly.
Lead field engineers and lead field technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Lead Field Engineer | Lead Field Technician | |
| Average salary | $72,264 | $40,838 |
| Salary range | Between $53,000 And $98,000 | Between $24,000 And $67,000 |
| Highest paying City | Las Vegas, NV | Oakland, CA |
| Highest paying state | Nevada | Nevada |
| Best paying company | Apple | Schneider Electric Industrial Services |
| Best paying industry | Energy | Utilities |
There are a few differences between a lead field engineer and a lead field technician in terms of educational background:
| Lead Field Engineer | Lead Field Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 45% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between lead field engineers' and lead field technicians' demographics:
| Lead Field Engineer | Lead Field Technician | |
| Average age | 43 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 95.4% Female, 4.6% | Male, 87.2% Female, 12.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.1% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 10.3% Asian, 17.2% White, 63.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 9.7% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% Asian, 10.4% White, 56.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 8% |