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The differences between senior performance engineers and automation engineers 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 performance engineer and an automation engineer. Additionally, a senior performance engineer has an average salary of $110,382, which is higher than the $92,597 average annual salary of an automation engineer.
The top three skills for a senior performance engineer include java, jmeter and linux. The most important skills for an automation engineer are python, java, and PLC.
| Senior Performance Engineer | Automation Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $110,382 | $92,597 |
| Hourly rate | $53.07 | $44.52 |
| Growth rate | 11% | - |
| Number of jobs | 95,530 | 133,941 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
Senior Performance Engineers are responsible for optimizing production systems to support traffic growth and new products. Their duties include creating a best practice framework for performance monitoring, scalability, and dependency handling, as well as developing testing infrastructure for post-deployment of production. They are responsible for designing alerts and dashboards, addressing performance issues, conducting root-cause analysis, defining process architecture, and facilitating site reliability in determining requirements for product scalability. Senior Performance Engineers also develop training programs to mentor operation services personnel.
An automation engineer takes charge of developing detailed design specifications and any other documents. Automation engineers develop automation software that is based on certain requirements for the involved process. They conform to local standards, international standards, and other process-oriented guidelines. Their duties also include the simulation and testing of automated machinery and processes. The must-have skills for this position include configuration software experience, scripting and coding expertise, certifications, and in-depth knowledge of technology.
Senior performance engineers and automation engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Performance Engineer | Automation Engineer | |
| Average salary | $110,382 | $92,597 |
| Salary range | Between $83,000 And $146,000 | Between $70,000 And $121,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Mateo, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Netflix | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Retail |
There are a few differences between a senior performance engineer and an automation engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Performance Engineer | Automation Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | California State University - Long Beach |
Here are the differences between senior performance engineers' and automation engineers' demographics:
| Senior Performance Engineer | Automation Engineer | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 76.2% Female, 23.8% | Male, 87.0% Female, 13.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |