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The differences between operations engineers and solutions engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both an operations engineer and a solutions engineer. Additionally, a solutions engineer has an average salary of $95,482, which is higher than the $91,522 average annual salary of an operations engineer.
The top three skills for an operations engineer include python, cloud and AWS. The most important skills for a solutions engineer are cloud, pre sales, and java.
| Operations Engineer | Solutions Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $91,522 | $95,482 |
| Hourly rate | $44.00 | $45.90 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 155,188 | 123,287 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 41 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
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.
A solutions engineer is an individual who assists customers in identifying their computer software needs and generates customized business software solutions for them. Solutions engineers collaborate with other department engineers to create practical demonstrations of proposed solutions and showcase them to the other members of the team. They are required to test the installed software and fix programming bugs that create errors with the system. Solutions engineers also maintain customer relations by providing post-installation follow-ups.
Operations engineers and solutions engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Operations Engineer | Solutions Engineer | |
| Average salary | $91,522 | $95,482 |
| Salary range | Between $63,000 And $132,000 | Between $68,000 And $134,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Apple | ByteDance |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Start-up |
There are a few differences between an operations engineer and a solutions engineer in terms of educational background:
| Operations Engineer | Solutions Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Michigan Technological University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between operations engineers' and solutions engineers' demographics:
| Operations Engineer | Solutions Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 89.9% Female, 10.1% | Male, 85.1% Female, 14.9% |
| Race ratio | 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% | Black or African American, 1.4% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 6.9% Asian, 10.8% White, 74.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 7% |