Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between program leads and program managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a program lead has an average salary of $100,727, which is higher than the $96,084 average annual salary of a program manager.
The top three skills for a program lead include project management, HR and work ethic. The most important skills for a program manager are project management, program management, and oversight.
| Program Lead | Program Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $100,727 | $96,084 |
| Hourly rate | $48.43 | $46.19 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 12% |
| Number of jobs | 61,632 | 197,556 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Average age | 42 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 4 | - |
A program lead is responsible for managing a business program's operation from its conceptualization to implementation. Program leads must have excellent communication and researching skills to monitor current industry trends, adjusting program techniques and strategies to meet society's demands. They have a clear understanding of the organization's long-term goals and outline plans to define those objectives, bringing new programs to light following clients' specifications that would help the business grow revenues, maintain customer satisfaction, and keep its good reputation, and achieve profitability goals.
A program manager is responsible for monitoring the project's progress, improving and developing new strategies, and coordinate various projects across the organization to ensure the success of the business objective. Program managers also manage the program's expenses, ensuring that the projects adhere to the budget goals without compromising the quality and accuracy of the result. A program manager should regularly connect with the different teams of every project under the program to keep track of the processes and procedures for the timely delivery of the product.
Program leads and program managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Program Lead | Program Manager | |
| Average salary | $100,727 | $96,084 |
| Salary range | Between $59,000 And $171,000 | Between $65,000 And $141,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New York | California |
| Best paying company | Netflix | Meta |
| Best paying industry | - | Technology |
There are a few differences between a program lead and a program manager in terms of educational background:
| Program Lead | Program Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between program leads' and program managers' demographics:
| Program Lead | Program Manager | |
| Average age | 42 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 40.9% Female, 59.1% | Male, 52.9% Female, 47.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.0% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 15.5% Asian, 5.1% White, 62.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 7.6% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 8.9% White, 65.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 10% |