Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between senior product specialists and product leads can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a senior product specialist, becoming a product lead takes usually requires 8-10 years. Additionally, a product lead has an average salary of $118,828, which is higher than the $112,464 average annual salary of a senior product specialist.
The top three skills for a senior product specialist include product management, healthcare and powerpoint. The most important skills for a product lead are product management, project management, and architecture.
| Senior Product Specialist | Product Lead | |
| Yearly salary | $112,464 | $118,828 |
| Hourly rate | $54.07 | $57.13 |
| Growth rate | 19% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 72,109 | 95,557 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Average age | 37 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 10 |
A senior product specialist is tasked with creating or improving products. In this role, they are instrumental in customizing, configuring, and creating new product solutions and subsequent deployment. Their responsibilities include leading all sales activities, identifying new markets, performing demonstrations for target customers, conducting market intelligence surveys to identify potential customers, creating sales proposals, negotiating sales agreements, developing drafts, sending out product development bulletins, and affecting production. They must also create and maintain relations with customers.
A product lead is responsible for monitoring the development of new products and services of an organization, starting from brand conceptualization to official market release and distribution. Product leads identify effective product management by conducting data analysis and evaluating market statistics of customer demands. They coordinate with the clients on their specifications and requirements, including the budget limit and timely deliverables. A product lead manages the brand promotion on media platforms, creating content that adheres to the target audience.
Senior product specialists and product leads have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Product Specialist | Product Lead | |
| Average salary | $112,464 | $118,828 |
| Salary range | Between $82,000 And $153,000 | Between $86,000 And $163,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Airbnb | |
| Best paying industry | Pharmaceutical | Hospitality |
There are a few differences between a senior product specialist and a product lead in terms of educational background:
| Senior Product Specialist | Product Lead | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Georgia | University of Georgia |
Here are the differences between senior product specialists' and product leads' demographics:
| Senior Product Specialist | Product Lead | |
| Average age | 37 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 66.0% Female, 34.0% | Male, 71.1% Female, 28.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 5.0% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 11.8% Asian, 13.4% White, 64.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 10% |