Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between senior infrastructure engineers and solutions engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a senior infrastructure engineer, becoming a solutions engineer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a senior infrastructure engineer has an average salary of $117,765, which is higher than the $95,482 average annual salary of a solutions engineer.
The top three skills for a senior infrastructure engineer include cloud, AWS and linux. The most important skills for a solutions engineer are cloud, pre sales, and java.
| Senior Infrastructure Engineer | Solutions Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $117,765 | $95,482 |
| Hourly rate | $56.62 | $45.90 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 78,855 | 123,287 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 43 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 6 |
A senior infrastructure engineer specializes in designing and developing systems and infrastructures based on client preferences and industry standards. They have the duty to identify and understand the project's needs, streamline project requirements, produce drafts, create prototypes and models, and establish tests to identify potential issues and ensure the projects' quality. Additionally, a senior infrastructure engineer has the authority to make decisions, train and supervise junior engineers, establish goals and timelines, provide technical support, and implement policies and guidelines.
A solutions engineer is an individual who assists customers in identifying their computer software needs and generates customized business software solutions for them. Solutions engineers collaborate with other department engineers to create practical demonstrations of proposed solutions and showcase them to the other members of the team. They are required to test the installed software and fix programming bugs that create errors with the system. Solutions engineers also maintain customer relations by providing post-installation follow-ups.
Senior infrastructure engineers and solutions engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Infrastructure Engineer | Solutions Engineer | |
| Average salary | $117,765 | $95,482 |
| Salary range | Between $87,000 And $158,000 | Between $68,000 And $134,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | ByteDance |
| Best paying industry | Hospitality | Start-up |
There are a few differences between a senior infrastructure engineer and a solutions engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Infrastructure Engineer | Solutions Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between senior infrastructure engineers' and solutions engineers' demographics:
| Senior Infrastructure Engineer | Solutions Engineer | |
| Average age | 43 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 75.3% Female, 24.7% | Male, 85.1% Female, 14.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.6% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.3% Asian, 10.7% White, 62.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 1.4% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 6.9% Asian, 10.8% White, 74.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 7% |