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The differences between senior managers and operations managers 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 manager and an operations manager. Additionally, a senior manager has an average salary of $118,906, which is higher than the $76,894 average annual salary of an operations manager.
The top three skills for a senior manager include analytics, project management and portfolio. The most important skills for an operations manager are customer service, logistics, and continuous improvement.
| Senior Manager | Operations Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $118,906 | $76,894 |
| Hourly rate | $57.17 | $36.97 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 372,801 | 343,868 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A senior manager is responsible for directing the overall efficiency of business operations. Senior managers monitor the performance of the staff, improve operational strategies, identify business opportunities, allocate budgets and resources, present reports to senior management, set goals to drive results on increasing the company's revenues and profitability. Senior managers must coordinate with various operations departments to maintain good feedback for the company, meeting client's expectations, and delivering the best results. They should have excellent communication and leadership skills to handle team members, as well as managing their needs and concerns.
Operations managers are in charge of running the main business of the organization. They ensure that the business is running smoothly from an operations standpoint. They make sure that the processes in place produce the necessary output by implementing quality control measures. They also manage finances and ensure that there is enough budget to keep the operations of the business running. They also ensure that the production of goods or services is cost-efficient. Operations managers also handle people-related concerns. They are responsible for interviewing candidates, choosing the ones to hire, and ensuring that individuals assigned to operations are properly trained.
Senior managers and operations managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Manager | Operations Manager | |
| Average salary | $118,906 | $76,894 |
| Salary range | Between $86,000 And $163,000 | Between $47,000 And $123,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | Delaware |
| Best paying company | Cornerstone Research | McKinsey & Company Inc |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Technology |
There are a few differences between a senior manager and an operations manager in terms of educational background:
| Senior Manager | Operations Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between senior managers' and operations managers' demographics:
| Senior Manager | Operations Manager | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 67.5% Female, 32.5% | Male, 69.4% Female, 30.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.1% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.9% Asian, 6.3% White, 67.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 6.3% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.4% Asian, 6.4% White, 67.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 10% |