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The differences between senior managers and program managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a senior manager has an average salary of $118,906, which is higher than the $96,084 average annual salary of a program manager.
The top three skills for a senior manager include analytics, project management and portfolio. The most important skills for a program manager are project management, program management, and oversight.
| Senior Manager | Program Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $118,906 | $96,084 |
| Hourly rate | $57.17 | $46.19 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 12% |
| Number of jobs | 372,801 | 197,556 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Average age | 44 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 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.
A program manager is responsible for monitoring the project's progress, improving and developing new strategies, and coordinate various projects across the organization to ensure the success of the business objective. Program managers also manage the program's expenses, ensuring that the projects adhere to the budget goals without compromising the quality and accuracy of the result. A program manager should regularly connect with the different teams of every project under the program to keep track of the processes and procedures for the timely delivery of the product.
Senior managers and program managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Manager | Program Manager | |
| Average salary | $118,906 | $96,084 |
| Salary range | Between $86,000 And $163,000 | Between $65,000 And $141,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | California |
| Best paying company | Cornerstone Research | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Technology |
There are a few differences between a senior manager and a program manager in terms of educational background:
| Senior Manager | Program Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between senior managers' and program managers' demographics:
| Senior Manager | Program Manager | |
| Average age | 44 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 67.5% Female, 32.5% | Male, 52.9% Female, 47.1% |
| 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, 7.6% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 8.9% White, 65.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 10% |