Senior operator vs operator

The differences between senior operators and operators 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 operator and an operator. Additionally, a senior operator has an average salary of $85,677, which is higher than the $37,928 average annual salary of an operator.

The top three skills for a senior operator include safety procedures, math and powerpoint. The most important skills for an operator are safety procedures, CDL, and emergency calls.

Senior operator vs operator overview

	Senior Operator	Operator
Yearly salary	$85,677	$37,928
Hourly rate	$41.19	$18.23
Growth rate	7%	7%
Number of jobs	45,548	159,077
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 38%	High School Diploma, 40%
Average age	43	43
Years of experience	4	4

What does a senior operator do?

Senior Operators are responsible for managing the operations and maintenance of all plants and facilities. Their duties include troubleshooting issues using root-cause analysis, carrying out testing and quality checks, assisting the lead operator in coordinating maintenance activities as well as ensuring plant and facilities condition and performance adhere to mandatory legal regulations. Senior Operators are responsible for writing daily updates for the lead operator and help human resources in conducting staff skills training.

What does an operator do?

Operators are skilled workers who are in charge of working on an industrial machine or a specific aspect of the manufacturing business. They are trained to operate machines, learning how to use them. They are also responsible for the maintenance and repair of the machine, and they should be able to troubleshoot problems and provide remedies to them. They must be knowledgeable about the different parts of the machine and how to mitigate any challenges that may arise. Operators should be alert, detail-oriented, and familiar with safety and health guidelines.

Senior operator vs operator salary

Senior operators and operators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Senior Operator	Operator
Average salary	$85,677	$37,928
Salary range	Between $54,000 And $135,000	Between $27,000 And $53,000
Highest paying City	Boston, MA	San Jose, CA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	North Dakota
Best paying company	Google	Microsoft
Best paying industry	-	Technology

Differences between senior operator and operator education

There are a few differences between a senior operator and an operator in terms of educational background:

	Senior Operator	Operator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 38%	High School Diploma, 40%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Stanford University	-

Senior operator vs operator demographics

Here are the differences between senior operators' and operators' demographics:

	Senior Operator	Operator
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 72.8% Female, 27.2%	Male, 73.0% Female, 27.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 17.0% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 19.1% Asian, 2.6% White, 56.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	Black or African American, 16.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 18.6% Asian, 2.5% White, 57.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	4%	4%

Differences between senior operator and operator duties and responsibilities

Senior operator example responsibilities.

Measure and inspect parts with calipers, scale, MRP, leads, micrometers and taper.
Manage the master calendar and schedule resources such as communication equipment, weapons, transportation and ammunition forecast and delivery.
Operate QC testing equipment such as calipers and micrometers.
Experience with MVS and JES2 command sets, the weekly shutdown and initial power load of production systems.
Assist in migration to the LAN environment, perform quality control and JCL setup and interface with user and vendor communities.
Train with TSO, JES2, and UCC7.

Show more

Operator example responsibilities.

Assist in developing the company s short and long term training plans and managing yearly ammunition allocation.
Assist and manage the extrusion process of polyester raw material in pellet or chip form to produce finish rolls of plastic.
Manage day-to-day transportation and logistics services for multinational account base.
Manage the master calendar and schedule resources such as communication equipment, weapons, transportation and ammunition forecast and delivery.
Job require basic math skills: fractions and decimals.
Ensure safety of all equipment during production in compliance with strict OSHA and safety regulations.

Show more

Senior operator vs operator skills

Common senior operator skills

Safety Procedures, 17%
Math, 8%
PowerPoint, 7%
Windows, 5%
Logistics, 5%
CDL, 5%

Common operator skills

Safety Procedures, 15%
CDL, 6%
Emergency Calls, 6%
Preventative Maintenance, 4%
Quality Checks, 4%
Dozer, 4%

Senior Operator vs. similar jobs

Senior Operator related careers

Senior Operator related jobs

What similar roles do

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse transportation jobs

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z