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Senior laboratory technician vs lead laboratory technician

The differences between senior laboratory technicians and lead laboratory technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a senior laboratory technician and a lead laboratory technician. Additionally, a lead laboratory technician has an average salary of $54,230, which is higher than the $48,530 average annual salary of a senior laboratory technician.

The top three skills for a senior laboratory technician include lab equipment, patients and research projects. The most important skills for a lead laboratory technician are patients, lab equipment, and customer service.

Senior laboratory technician vs lead laboratory technician overview

Senior Laboratory TechnicianLead Laboratory Technician
Yearly salary$48,530$54,230
Hourly rate$23.33$26.07
Growth rate9%3%
Number of jobs63,87677,096
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 64%Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Average age4444
Years of experience1212

What does a senior laboratory technician do?

A Senior Laboratory Technician is responsible for supervising and coordinating scientific investigations and experiments. They supervise staff, provide technical support, and construct, maintain, and operate standard laboratory equipment.

What does a lead laboratory technician do?

A Lead Laboratory Technician coordinates the operations of a laboratory. They supervise the preparation of specimens for tests, collection of blood, examination of blood samples, and other duties performed by the technician team.

Senior laboratory technician vs lead laboratory technician salary

Senior laboratory technicians and lead laboratory technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

Senior Laboratory TechnicianLead Laboratory Technician
Average salary$48,530$54,230
Salary rangeBetween $34,000 And $67,000Between $33,000 And $86,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASouth San Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaNew Jersey
Best paying companyGenentechMeta
Best paying industryManufacturingManufacturing

Differences between senior laboratory technician and lead laboratory technician education

There are a few differences between a senior laboratory technician and a lead laboratory technician in terms of educational background:

Senior Laboratory TechnicianLead Laboratory Technician
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 64%Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Most common majorBiologyBiology
Most common collegeNew York UniversityNew York University

Senior laboratory technician vs lead laboratory technician demographics

Here are the differences between senior laboratory technicians' and lead laboratory technicians' demographics:

Senior Laboratory TechnicianLead Laboratory Technician
Average age4444
Gender ratioMale, 58.6% Female, 41.4%Male, 58.2% Female, 41.8%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 10.5% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% Asian, 12.0% White, 54.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%Black or African American, 9.9% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 17.6% Asian, 12.0% White, 54.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage8%8%

Differences between senior laboratory technician and lead laboratory technician duties and responsibilities

Senior laboratory technician example responsibilities.

  • Lead aerobic, anaerobic and UV light testing, chemical residue testing and centrifuge to separate chemicals from water.
  • Operate a binary distillation column using LabView to separate a mixture of methanol and water.
  • Provide and sign certificate of analyses for wet chemistry and microbiology.
  • Perform CFU-blast, CFU-C, CFU-D, CFU-S assays.
  • Create raw material library on FTIR.
  • Perform manual titration, including testing bacteria and other water tests.
  • Show more

Lead laboratory technician example responsibilities.

  • Manage patient, and corporate information with compassion and confidentiality.
  • Set up, adjust, calibrate, clean, maintain, and troubleshoot laboratory instruments.
  • Assist with FDA and OSHA audits, coordinate the center for all audits and inspections.
  • Accession patient information, doctor information, and testing information accurately and promptly into the NovoPath LIS system.
  • Develop and execute IQ/OQ/PQ at manufacturing site.
  • Maintain, troubleshoot, verify and calibrate laboratory equipment.
  • Show more

Senior laboratory technician vs lead laboratory technician skills

Common senior laboratory technician skills
  • Lab Equipment, 9%
  • Patients, 8%
  • Research Projects, 5%
  • Cell Culture, 4%
  • Safety Procedures, 4%
  • Molecular Biology, 4%
Common lead laboratory technician skills
  • Patients, 12%
  • Lab Equipment, 11%
  • Customer Service, 9%
  • Ongoing Maintenance, 5%
  • Patient Care, 4%
  • Chemistry, 4%

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