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The differences between senior information security consultants and security engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a senior information security consultant and a security engineer. Additionally, a senior information security consultant has an average salary of $106,150, which is higher than the $104,524 average annual salary of a security engineer.
The top three skills for a senior information security consultant include risk assessments, risk management and cloud security. The most important skills for a security engineer are java, cloud security, and infrastructure.
| Senior Information Security Consultant | Security Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $106,150 | $104,524 |
| Hourly rate | $51.03 | $50.25 |
| Growth rate | 32% | 32% |
| Number of jobs | 115,978 | 86,093 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A senior information security consultant manages and executes consultancy tasks in information compliance and security areas like privacy regulation, cybersecurity, cloud security, and software quality. They manage and conduct assessments depending on specific frameworks and lead teams during client projects. These professionals support organizations in implementing information security management systems as per the ISO standards. Also, senior information security consultants, coach medium consultants, and junior consultants on service offering and knowledge development. Also, they promote services and knowledge offerings.
Security engineers are responsible for developing and overseeing data and security software to help prevent data breaches, leaks, and taps related to cybercrime. Other duties and responsibilities include developing new systems to help protect computer networks and assets, configuring firewalls, and conducting penetration testing to pinpoint vulnerabilities. Additionally, security engineers are responsible for investigating attacks and help prevent cybersecurity threat. They are also responsible for creating new processes for authorization, encryption algorithms, and authentication, and analyzing current security policies.
Senior information security consultants and security engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Information Security Consultant | Security Engineer | |
| Average salary | $106,150 | $104,524 |
| Salary range | Between $79,000 And $141,000 | Between $77,000 And $141,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | California |
| Best paying company | RingCentral | ICE Mortgage Technology |
| Best paying industry | Telecommunication | Technology |
There are a few differences between a senior information security consultant and a security engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Information Security Consultant | Security Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between senior information security consultants' and security engineers' demographics:
| Senior Information Security Consultant | Security Engineer | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 83.1% Female, 16.9% | Male, 86.4% Female, 13.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.0% Asian, 9.6% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.0% Asian, 9.6% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |