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The differences between principal technologists and information technology managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-8 years to become both a principal technologist and an information technology manager. Additionally, a principal technologist has an average salary of $124,965, which is higher than the $119,589 average annual salary of an information technology manager.
The top three skills for a principal technologist include java, cloud and infrastructure. The most important skills for an information technology manager are customer service, project management, and database.
| Principal Technologist | Information Technology Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $124,965 | $119,589 |
| Hourly rate | $60.08 | $57.49 |
| Growth rate | 16% | 16% |
| Number of jobs | 90,060 | 108,179 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 59% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 8 | 8 |
A principal technologist is responsible for developing and delivering innovative solutions and providing contributions technically to various projects. Your duties will include providing assistance in improving the chemical supply chain that will benefit key product units (KPU), managing and creating user accounts, directory access, and server permissions, and managing the in-house services related to the internet. In addition, you will train and educate customers on how to use certain software and hardware as requested and performing development and architecture for database, software, and infrastructure.
An information technology manager is responsible for supervising tasks for the company's network and information systems operations. Information technology managers require excellent knowledge of the information systems industry, a strong command of programming languages, and software and hardware application processes. An information technology manager reviews the performance of the IT department staff, ensuring that networks and systems maintain the highest quality and efficiency, and adjusting the specific system updates as needed. Information technology managers monitor the security of the system's database and identify business opportunities to utilize all business systems to improve the company's services.
Principal technologists and information technology managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Principal Technologist | Information Technology Manager | |
| Average salary | $124,965 | $119,589 |
| Salary range | Between $95,000 And $163,000 | Between $84,000 And $169,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Richmond, CA |
| Highest paying state | Oregon | New Hampshire |
| Best paying company | Airbnb | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Telecommunication | - |
There are a few differences between a principal technologist and an information technology manager in terms of educational background:
| Principal Technologist | Information Technology Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 59% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Most common major | Business | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Carnegie Mellon University | Carnegie Mellon University |
Here are the differences between principal technologists' and information technology managers' demographics:
| Principal Technologist | Information Technology Manager | |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 83.1% Female, 16.9% | Male, 84.5% Female, 15.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.7% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 10.0% Asian, 12.8% White, 65.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 6.6% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 9.9% Asian, 12.7% White, 65.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |