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The differences between senior instructional designers and instructional systems designers 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 instructional designer and an instructional systems designer. Additionally, a senior instructional designer has an average salary of $68,140, which is higher than the $65,907 average annual salary of an instructional systems designer.
The top three skills for a senior instructional designer include instructional design, subject matter experts and project management. The most important skills for an instructional systems designer are subject matter experts, instructional design, and smes.
| Senior Instructional Designer | Instructional Systems Designer | |
| Yearly salary | $68,140 | $65,907 |
| Hourly rate | $32.76 | $31.69 |
| Growth rate | 7% | 7% |
| Number of jobs | 47,093 | 104,993 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 55% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A senior instructional designer specializes in developing instructional and educational materials for a specific group of individuals, including children and adults. Their duties involve working together with the clients in identifying project needs and requirements, collaborating with experts, conducting research and assessments, utilizing theories and other studies in developing instructional materials, and subjecting the materials into different inspections to ensure quality and accuracy. Additionally, a senior instructional designer must utilize their expertise and experience by training and supervising junior designers while implementing policies and regulations.
An instructional systems designer specializes in developing training solutions in adherence to the objectives of a program or project. Their responsibilities include identifying the needs of projects and programs, performing extensive research and analysis, gathering and analyzing existing systems' data to identify their strengths and weaknesses, studying feedback from various parties, and developing test structures. Moreover, an instructional systems designer must maintain an active communication line with the instructional systems team, coordinating while adhering to the company's policies and regulations.
Senior instructional designers and instructional systems designers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Instructional Designer | Instructional Systems Designer | |
| Average salary | $68,140 | $65,907 |
| Salary range | Between $49,000 And $93,000 | Between $46,000 And $93,000 |
| Highest paying City | Newtown, CT | Baltimore, MD |
| Highest paying state | Connecticut | Connecticut |
| Best paying company | Algolia | Parsons |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a senior instructional designer and an instructional systems designer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Instructional Designer | Instructional Systems Designer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 55% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Harvard University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between senior instructional designers' and instructional systems designers' demographics:
| Senior Instructional Designer | Instructional Systems Designer | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 45.7% Female, 54.3% | Male, 64.6% Female, 35.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 16.8% Asian, 5.5% White, 62.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 12.4% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 16.0% Asian, 5.3% White, 61.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 16% | 16% |