Senior production associate vs production manager

The differences between senior production associates and production managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a senior production associate and a production manager. Additionally, a production manager has an average salary of $78,064, which is higher than the $59,051 average annual salary of a senior production associate.

The top three skills for a senior production associate include quality standards, hand tools and computer system. The most important skills for a production manager are continuous improvement, customer service, and quality standards.

Senior production associate vs production manager overview

	Senior Production Associate	Production Manager
Yearly salary	$59,051	$78,064
Hourly rate	$28.39	$37.53
Growth rate	-	3%
Number of jobs	52,142	95,561
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 53%	Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Average age	46	46
Years of experience	2	2

Senior production associate vs production manager salary

Senior production associates and production managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Senior Production Associate	Production Manager
Average salary	$59,051	$78,064
Salary range	Between $37,000 And $92,000	Between $50,000 And $120,000
Highest paying City	Berkeley, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Hawaii	Rhode Island
Best paying company	ORIX USA	Cheniere Energy
Best paying industry	Technology	Technology

Differences between senior production associate and production manager education

There are a few differences between a senior production associate and a production manager in terms of educational background:

	Senior Production Associate	Production Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 53%	Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Stanford University	Stanford University

Senior production associate vs production manager demographics

Here are the differences between senior production associates' and production managers' demographics:

	Senior Production Associate	Production Manager
Average age	46	46
Gender ratio	Male, 55.4% Female, 44.6%	Male, 76.6% Female, 23.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 12.5% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 18.6% Asian, 4.7% White, 59.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 11.9% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 17.3% Asian, 5.1% White, 60.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between senior production associate and production manager duties and responsibilities

Senior production associate example responsibilities.

Lead targeted decision-making across fast-pace production operations for this growth-orient USDA food factory producing quality meat products.
Supervise and run production lines assuring quality in GMP codes and lot dates for food products.
Record data per run per BOM and FDA.
Utilize skills in molding, splicing and soldering and brazing.
Circulate packing and shipping manuals for instructions to agents and troubleshoot any issues.
Use JIRA to kick-off development tasks, track stages of production, kick off QA efforts, and document bugs.

Production manager example responsibilities.

Lead a KAIZEN that save 220k in damages.
Manage lean sigma techniques and Kaizen events to reduce raw material and scrap costs.
Hire and manage crew and locations along with renting necessary film equipment and organizing shoot logistics.
Team member in setting up TPM method of measuring production (OEE), helping to achieve record production results.
Manage data reports, analyze and provide data to improve operational performance to include OEE, process reliability and labor optimization.
Manage production control group and supply replenishment logistics for the manufacturing division.

Senior production associate vs production manager skills

Common senior production associate skills

Quality Standards, 22%
Hand Tools, 9%
Computer System, 6%
Lean Manufacturing, 6%
Quality Checks, 5%
Quality Procedures, 5%

Common production manager skills

Continuous Improvement, 8%
Customer Service, 7%
Quality Standards, 6%
Safety Procedures, 6%
Lean Manufacturing, 6%
Production Supervisors, 6%

Senior Production Associate vs. similar jobs

Senior Production Associate related careers

Senior Production Associate related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Production and Manufacturing Industry
Senior Production Associate
Senior Production Associate vs Production Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse production and manufacturing jobs