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The differences between practice leaders and senior managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-8 years to become a practice leader, becoming a senior manager takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a practice leader has an average salary of $131,194, which is higher than the $118,906 average annual salary of a senior manager.
The top three skills for a practice leader include exceptional client, patients and business development. The most important skills for a senior manager are analytics, project management, and portfolio.
| Practice Leader | Senior Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $131,194 | $118,906 |
| Hourly rate | $63.07 | $57.17 |
| Growth rate | 16% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 50,164 | 372,801 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 47 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 8 | 6 |
A project management specialist is responsible for overseeing different programs and projects within a company, ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. Their responsibilities typically revolve around identifying project needs, participating in setting goals and objectives, managing schedules and budgets, performing risk and cost assessments, and producing progress reports and presentations for the directors and other executives. Furthermore, a project management specialist may also perform research and analysis to find new business opportunities and liaise with clients to generate sales.
A senior manager is responsible for directing the overall efficiency of business operations. Senior managers monitor the performance of the staff, improve operational strategies, identify business opportunities, allocate budgets and resources, present reports to senior management, set goals to drive results on increasing the company's revenues and profitability. Senior managers must coordinate with various operations departments to maintain good feedback for the company, meeting client's expectations, and delivering the best results. They should have excellent communication and leadership skills to handle team members, as well as managing their needs and concerns.
Practice leaders and senior managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Practice Leader | Senior Manager | |
| Average salary | $131,194 | $118,906 |
| Salary range | Between $92,000 And $185,000 | Between $86,000 And $163,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Pennsylvania | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | SAP | Cornerstone Research |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Professional |
There are a few differences between a practice leader and a senior manager in terms of educational background:
| Practice Leader | Senior Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Carnegie Mellon University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between practice leaders' and senior managers' demographics:
| Practice Leader | Senior Manager | |
| Average age | 47 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 73.2% Female, 26.8% | Male, 67.5% Female, 32.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.7% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 10.1% Asian, 12.7% White, 65.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 6.1% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.9% Asian, 6.3% White, 67.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 10% |