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The differences between project specialists and operations specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a project specialist has an average salary of $65,993, which is higher than the $54,752 average annual salary of an operations specialist.
The top three skills for a project specialist include customer service, project management and project proposals. The most important skills for an operations specialist are customer service, logistics, and basic math.
| Project Specialist | Operations Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $65,993 | $54,752 |
| Hourly rate | $31.73 | $26.32 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 99,583 | 109,181 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 57% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
A project specialist's role is to ensure that a project or program's completion is within the allotted time and budget. They are primarily responsible for devising plans and strategies to quicken the pace of production or processes involved, creating a comprehensive schedule, monitoring the progress and producing reports, tracking the budget and expenditures, and coordinating with all department personnel. Moreover, a project specialist may also schedule and attend meetings, all while adhering to the company's policies and standards.
An operations specialist is responsible for optimizing the business' daily operations, ensuring smooth process flow to provide the best services to clients. Operations specialists' duties include analyzing business procedures, identifying opportunities for business improvement, tracking the department's metrics and activities, providing assistance to colleagues, suggesting strategies for operations efficiency, and managing customer's inquiries and complaints. An operations specialist must be an excellent team player and detail-oriented, as well as proven time-management and decision-making skills to meet clients' needs and support the business' objectives.
Project specialists and operations specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Project Specialist | Operations Specialist | |
| Average salary | $65,993 | $54,752 |
| Salary range | Between $41,000 And $103,000 | Between $35,000 And $85,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | California | Rhode Island |
| Best paying company | Meta | Coatue Management |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Government |
There are a few differences between a project specialist and an operations specialist in terms of educational background:
| Project Specialist | Operations Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 57% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Western Carolina University | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between project specialists' and operations specialists' demographics:
| Project Specialist | Operations Specialist | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 46.7% Female, 53.3% | Male, 50.6% Female, 49.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 8.8% White, 70.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 8.8% White, 70.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |