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The differences between lead operations engineers and operations managers 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 manager takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a lead operations engineer has an average salary of $104,981, which is higher than the $76,894 average annual salary of an operations manager.
The top three skills for a lead operations engineer include preventative maintenance, HVAC and plumbing. The most important skills for an operations manager are customer service, logistics, and continuous improvement.
| Lead Operations Engineer | Operations Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $104,981 | $76,894 |
| Hourly rate | $50.47 | $36.97 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 84,056 | 343,868 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 56% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Average age | 43 | 44 |
| 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.
Operations managers are in charge of running the main business of the organization. They ensure that the business is running smoothly from an operations standpoint. They make sure that the processes in place produce the necessary output by implementing quality control measures. They also manage finances and ensure that there is enough budget to keep the operations of the business running. They also ensure that the production of goods or services is cost-efficient. Operations managers also handle people-related concerns. They are responsible for interviewing candidates, choosing the ones to hire, and ensuring that individuals assigned to operations are properly trained.
Lead operations engineers and operations managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Lead Operations Engineer | Operations Manager | |
| Average salary | $104,981 | $76,894 |
| Salary range | Between $75,000 And $145,000 | Between $47,000 And $123,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Delaware |
| Best paying company | Apple | McKinsey & Company Inc |
| Best paying industry | Real Estate | Technology |
There are a few differences between a lead operations engineer and an operations manager in terms of educational background:
| Lead Operations Engineer | Operations Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 56% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Business |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between lead operations engineers' and operations managers' demographics:
| Lead Operations Engineer | Operations Manager | |
| Average age | 43 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 92.8% Female, 7.2% | Male, 69.4% Female, 30.6% |
| 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, 6.3% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.4% Asian, 6.4% White, 67.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 10% |