Senior business process analyst vs project analyst

The differences between senior business process analysts and project analysts can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a senior business process analyst and a project analyst. Additionally, a senior business process analyst has an average salary of $88,931, which is higher than the $71,174 average annual salary of a project analyst.

The top three skills for a senior business process analyst include process improvement, project management and lean six sigma. The most important skills for a project analyst are project management, data analysis, and customer service.

Senior business process analyst vs project analyst overview

	Senior Business Process Analyst	Project Analyst
Yearly salary	$88,931	$71,174
Hourly rate	$42.76	$34.22
Growth rate	11%	11%
Number of jobs	171,528	207,513
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 72%	Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	4	4

What does a senior business process analyst do?

A senior business process analyst is an individual who is responsible for developing business process-related solutions for a company. Senior business process analysts must collaborate with the company's policy team to understand their processes and systems as well as identify areas for improvement. They need to work with multi-functional partners and execute project plans that will improve the team's efficiency and effectiveness. Collaborating with managers and partners, senior business process analyst must also provide the management and transparency reporting needs.

What does a project analyst do?

A project analyst is responsible for overseeing the development of new projects upon completion of data gathering. A project analyst must provide plans and design the project to its full potential. For this, it is essential to conduct extensive research and coordinate with all staff and departments involved through regular reports and various forms of communication. Furthermore, a project analyst must devise strategies to improve particular projects for it to succeed and achieve better results, all in adherence to the company policies and regulations.

Senior business process analyst vs project analyst salary

Senior business process analysts and project analysts have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Senior Business Process Analyst	Project Analyst
Average salary	$88,931	$71,174
Salary range	Between $66,000 And $119,000	Between $52,000 And $97,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	Jersey City, NJ
Highest paying state	New York	New Jersey
Best paying company	Emergent BioSolutions	Google
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Manufacturing

Differences between senior business process analyst and project analyst education

There are a few differences between a senior business process analyst and a project analyst in terms of educational background:

	Senior Business Process Analyst	Project Analyst
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 72%	Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Northwestern University	Northwestern University

Senior business process analyst vs project analyst demographics

Here are the differences between senior business process analysts' and project analysts' demographics:

	Senior Business Process Analyst	Project Analyst
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 53.0% Female, 47.0%	Male, 57.7% Female, 42.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.8% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 13.9% White, 64.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 8.0% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 8.9% Asian, 13.7% White, 64.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	12%	12%

Differences between senior business process analyst and project analyst duties and responsibilities

Senior business process analyst example responsibilities.

Manage the application development effort to insure they adhere to the companies approve SDLC guidelines.
Provide development of effective QA test processes, including managing metrics for test execution and defect tracking.
Design and develop a SharePoint site that allow the team to communicate, synchronize and manage document sharing.
Manage cross-functional continuous improvement projects to support the supply chain operations, leveraging current JD Edwards ERP system.
Participate in and hold daily scrum meetings to perform iterative and incremental agile software development framework when managing product development.
Develop current and future state processes of various systems within MassDOT using Visio.

Project analyst example responsibilities.

Develop infrastructure to enable clients to better understand and manage risks associate with their decision environment to capture opportunities.
Develop and maintain VISIO process diagrams.
Coordinate system upgrades, interface development, QA testing and end-user training.
Originate, track, and submit final samples of promotional materials to FDA.
Team member that implement bar code system, close reductions and Hyperion software.
Project utilize DB2, CICS, MQ-Series software in a mainframe/NT workstation environment.

Senior business process analyst vs project analyst skills

Common senior business process analyst skills

Process Improvement, 11%
Project Management, 10%
Lean Six Sigma, 7%
Sigma, 6%
Business Analysis, 4%
Visio, 3%

Common project analyst skills

Project Management, 22%
Data Analysis, 6%
Customer Service, 5%
Status Reports, 5%
SharePoint, 4%
PMP, 4%

Senior Business Process Analyst vs. similar jobs

Senior Business Process Analyst related careers

Senior Business Process Analyst related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Business and Financial Industry
Senior Business Process Analyst
Senior Business Process Analyst vs Project Analyst

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse business and financial jobs