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The differences between practice leaders and technical 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 technical manager takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a practice leader has an average salary of $131,194, which is higher than the $116,619 average annual salary of a technical manager.
The top three skills for a practice leader include exceptional client, patients and business development. The most important skills for a technical manager are project management, infrastructure, and architecture.
| Practice Leader | Technical Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $131,194 | $116,619 |
| Hourly rate | $63.07 | $56.07 |
| Growth rate | 16% | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 50,164 | 116,732 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Average age | 47 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 8 | 2 |
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 technical manager is responsible for maintaining the company's information systems database and analyzing technology system matters to ensure its efficiency and accuracy in supporting business operations. Technical managers perform network checks regularly to assess any possible malfunctions that might compromise the company's cybersecurity. They carefully analyze business and clients' specifications on working with systems integration, responding to end-users' concerns and inquiries. A technical manager must have excellent knowledge of the information technology systems industry, as well as a strong command on network codes to conduct adjustments and manage network infrastructure.
Practice leaders and technical managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Practice Leader | Technical Manager | |
| Average salary | $131,194 | $116,619 |
| Salary range | Between $92,000 And $185,000 | Between $84,000 And $161,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Pennsylvania | California |
| Best paying company | SAP | A.T. Kearney |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a practice leader and a technical manager in terms of educational background:
| Practice Leader | Technical Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Carnegie Mellon University | Carnegie Mellon University |
Here are the differences between practice leaders' and technical managers' demographics:
| Practice Leader | Technical Manager | |
| Average age | 47 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 73.2% Female, 26.8% | Male, 83.7% Female, 16.3% |
| 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, 8.0% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 6.4% White, 65.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 14% |