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The differences between project leaders and project developers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a project leader, becoming a project developer takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a project leader has an average salary of $98,559, which is higher than the $89,766 average annual salary of a project developer.
The top three skills for a project leader include project management, work ethic and C++. The most important skills for a project developer are project development, renewable energy, and project management.
| Project Leader | Project Developer | |
| Yearly salary | $98,559 | $89,766 |
| Hourly rate | $47.38 | $43.16 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 21% |
| Number of jobs | 221,165 | 303,850 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 44 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 4 |
A project leader is responsible for supervising the team and managing the distribution of tasks to ensure the project's success with the highest efficiency and accuracy. Duties of a project leader include motivating the team, managing the team's needs and concerns, providing effective strategies to improve the team's performance, creating reports, monitoring the team's progress, and maintaining the coordination between team members. A project leader should have exceptional leadership skills to handle the team's operation and identify areas of improvement to deliver excellent results.
Project developers research aspects of each project to check that it follows all regulations and to complete the project on time and under the budget. They are responsible for overseeing various projects for their companies. They staff the project and make necessary purchases. Staffing could include hiring contractors and hiring new employees for the company. Their tasks are to report and resolve issues blocking work on project elements, develop project timeline and milestones with mitigation planning, and establish critical requirements of a project through stakeholder assessment.
Project leaders and project developers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Project Leader | Project Developer | |
| Average salary | $98,559 | $89,766 |
| Salary range | Between $70,000 And $138,000 | Between $67,000 And $119,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Boston Consulting Group | Amazon |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Hospitality |
There are a few differences between a project leader and a project developer in terms of educational background:
| Project Leader | Project Developer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between project leaders' and project developers' demographics:
| Project Leader | Project Developer | |
| Average age | 44 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 69.0% Female, 31.0% | Male, 68.5% Female, 31.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 4.5% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.2% Asian, 29.9% White, 52.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 8% |