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The differences between project leaders and senior project managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a senior project manager has an average salary of $110,947, which is higher than the $98,559 average annual salary of a project leader.
The top three skills for a project leader include project management, work ethic and C++. The most important skills for a senior project manager are project management, program management, and portfolio.
| Project Leader | Senior Project Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $98,559 | $110,947 |
| Hourly rate | $47.38 | $53.34 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 16% |
| Number of jobs | 221,165 | 183,210 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Average age | 44 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 6 | - |
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.
Senior project managers are experienced employees assigned to oversee a specific project in the organization. They manage the project from conception to execution. They are onboard the project from the ideation phase, providing valuable insights to ensure the success of the project. Senior project managers are also in charge of managing the budget, ensuring that the expected timelines are followed, adjusting strategies when needed, and guiding project team members. It is important for senior project managers to be good leaders and communicators. They should be able to balance the interests of all the stakeholders involved in the project. They should have good interpersonal skills and decision-making skills.
Project leaders and senior project managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Project Leader | Senior Project Manager | |
| Average salary | $98,559 | $110,947 |
| Salary range | Between $70,000 And $138,000 | Between $82,000 And $148,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Boston Consulting Group | Roku |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Technology |
There are a few differences between a project leader and a senior project manager in terms of educational background:
| Project Leader | Senior Project Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between project leaders' and senior project managers' demographics:
| Project Leader | Senior Project Manager | |
| Average age | 44 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 69.0% Female, 31.0% | Male, 71.4% Female, 28.6% |
| 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, 7.5% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.5% Asian, 8.8% White, 65.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 10% |