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The differences between principal consultants and senior managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a senior manager has an average salary of $118,906, which is higher than the $116,478 average annual salary of a principal consultant.
The top three skills for a principal consultant include cloud, business development and C #. The most important skills for a senior manager are analytics, project management, and portfolio.
| Principal Consultant | Senior Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $116,478 | $118,906 |
| Hourly rate | $56.00 | $57.17 |
| Growth rate | 11% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 143,753 | 372,801 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | - | 6 |
A principal consultant is responsible for evaluating business' needs and opportunities, identifying potential leads to create project proposals, and maintaining strong business relationships that would generate revenues and increase the organization's profitability. Principal consultants must be up-to-date with the current market trends to ensure that the business adapts to the industry's changes. They also initiate new product development to expand its brand image, working closely with the marketing team for marketing strategies and promotions.
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.
Principal consultants and senior managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Principal Consultant | Senior Manager | |
| Average salary | $116,478 | $118,906 |
| Salary range | Between $90,000 And $150,000 | Between $86,000 And $163,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Oregon | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Pure Storage | Cornerstone Research |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Professional |
There are a few differences between a principal consultant and a senior manager in terms of educational background:
| Principal Consultant | Senior Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Western Carolina University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between principal consultants' and senior managers' demographics:
| Principal Consultant | Senior Manager | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 75.8% Female, 24.2% | Male, 67.5% Female, 32.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 8.8% White, 70.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | 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% |