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The differences between lead operations engineers and operations engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a lead operations engineer, becoming an operations engineer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a lead operations engineer has an average salary of $104,981, which is higher than the $91,522 average annual salary of an operations engineer.
The top three skills for a lead operations engineer include preventative maintenance, HVAC and plumbing. The most important skills for an operations engineer are python, cloud, and AWS.
| Lead Operations Engineer | Operations Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $104,981 | $91,522 |
| Hourly rate | $50.47 | $44.00 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 84,056 | 155,188 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 56% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Average age | 43 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 6 |
A lead Operation Engineer is the person who supervises plant operations. They identify and resolves operation problems by studying the performance and function of a system. They monitor and evaluate workers under their department. They also practice the objectives of a project, including safety, the convenience of operation, efficiency, quality, and the cost and time of operations. Other duties include improving the quality of operations, designs and contributing to the system's changes and modification.
An operations engineer is an individual who is responsible for ensuring that the operations of a company are working properly in industries such as manufacturing or shipping. Operations engineers are required to handle repairs or upgrades to the company's machinery and coordinate with department heads to assist in fine-tuning their operations system. When they have upgraded their system, operations engineers should conduct training with managers as well as employees and other workers. They are also required to examine machinery for defects and communicate maintenance schedules with department heads.
Lead operations engineers and operations engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Lead Operations Engineer | Operations Engineer | |
| Average salary | $104,981 | $91,522 |
| Salary range | Between $75,000 And $145,000 | Between $63,000 And $132,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Apple | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Real Estate | Technology |
There are a few differences between a lead operations engineer and an operations engineer in terms of educational background:
| Lead Operations Engineer | Operations Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 56% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between lead operations engineers' and operations engineers' demographics:
| Lead Operations Engineer | Operations Engineer | |
| Average age | 43 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 92.8% Female, 7.2% | Male, 89.9% Female, 10.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.0% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 8.7% White, 64.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.2% Asian, 10.6% White, 72.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 5% |