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The differences between production support engineers and support leads can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a production support engineer and a support lead. Additionally, a support lead has an average salary of $86,816, which is higher than the $78,599 average annual salary of a production support engineer.
The top three skills for a production support engineer include java, infrastructure and linux. The most important skills for a support lead are customer service, cash management, and POS.
| Production Support Engineer | Support Lead | |
| Yearly salary | $78,599 | $86,816 |
| Hourly rate | $37.79 | $41.74 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 194,203 | 98,872 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 58% |
| Average age | 43 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
Product support engineers are in charge of managing the technical requests ordered by the customer. Their primary role is to repair and resolve errors, constantly register details for later reports, and update customers with the improvements. They help other engineers by enhancing processes and assisting in product development. Also, they provide recommendations for feature improvements and efficiency enhancement based on the customers' preference. These specialists are critical and analytical thinkers as well as technical experts. They are able to communicate well to customers while doing multiple tasks and pay attention to detail to track errors and record them.
A support lead is typically in charge of overseeing the performance of a technical support team, ensuring efficiency and customer satisfaction. Their responsibilities revolve around assessing the performance of the workforce, resolving complex issues, identifying customer needs and sales opportunities, and training new team members. They may also perform calls and correspondence, respond to inquiries, and resolve issues promptly. Furthermore, as a support lead, it is essential to perform clerical tasks such as preparing progress reports, managing schedules, and maintaining records of transactions.
Production support engineers and support leads have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Production Support Engineer | Support Lead | |
| Average salary | $78,599 | $86,816 |
| Salary range | Between $57,000 And $107,000 | Between $63,000 And $118,000 |
| Highest paying City | Boston, MA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | California |
| Best paying company | Salesforce | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Technology | - |
There are a few differences between a production support engineer and a support lead in terms of educational background:
| Production Support Engineer | Support Lead | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 58% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Business |
| Most common college | California State University - Long Beach | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between production support engineers' and support leads' demographics:
| Production Support Engineer | Support Lead | |
| Average age | 43 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 85.1% Female, 14.9% | Male, 52.3% Female, 47.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.7% Asian, 13.8% White, 61.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 10.5% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.1% Asian, 14.6% White, 54.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 11% |