A senior programmer is responsible for the design, development, and implementation of software programs and applications that align with the business requirements. He/She or she leads a team of junior programmers in encoding, testing, and debugging an organization's software programs and applications.
They are also responsible for holding client meetings, implementing new projects, proposing business solutions, and generally providing technical support to all personnel in an organization.
Senior programmers work closely with other programmers, analysts, IT staff, finance staff, and managers to understand system needs and develop solutions within set timelines and budgets. A successful senior programmer should have extensive knowledge and experience in programming, leadership skills, communication skills, analytical skills, attention to detail, and problem-solving skills.
Senior programmers typically work 40 hours a week Monday to Friday from 9 to 5. They may work remotely sometimes or work off-site when they have client meetings.
What is a Senior Programmer?
What Does a Senior Programmer Do
There are certain skills that many senior programmers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed concentration, troubleshooting skills and detail oriented.
How To Become a Senior Programmer
If you're interested in becoming a senior programmer, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 69.5% of senior programmers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 16.9% of senior programmers have master's degrees. Even though most senior programmers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Senior Programmer Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of senior software engineer you might progress to a role such as manager eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title information technology operations manager.
Average Salary for a Senior Programmer
What Am I Worth?
Top Colleges for Senior Programmers
1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA • Private
2. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
3. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
4. Duke University
Durham, NC • Private
5. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
6. Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, GA • Private
7. Cornell University
Ithaca, NY • Private
8. Georgetown University
Washington, DC • Private
9. Dartmouth College
Hanover, NH • Private
10. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
Top Skills For a Senior Programmer
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 12.6% of senior programmers listed procedures on their resume, but soft skills such as concentration and troubleshooting skills are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Senior Programmer Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Senior Programmer templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Senior Programmer resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Senior Programmer Demographics
Senior Programmer Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among senior programmers, 19.0% of them are women, while 81.0% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among senior programmers is White, which makes up 66.1% of all senior programmers.
- The most common foreign language among senior programmers is Spanish at 39.0%.
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Best States For a Senior Programmer
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a senior programmer. The best states for people in this position are California, Oregon, Washington, and West Virginia. Senior programmers make the most in California with an average salary of $115,853. Whereas in Oregon and Washington, they would average $112,944 and $111,798, respectively. While senior programmers would only make an average of $108,629 in West Virginia, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Oregon
$112,944
Avg. Salary
2. Washington
$111,798
Avg. Salary
3. Delaware
$108,340
Avg. Salary
How Do Senior Programmer Rate Their Jobs?
Top Senior Programmer Employers
We've made finding a great employer to work for easy by doing the hard work for you. We looked into employers that employ senior programmers and discovered their number of senior programmer opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that IBM was the best, especially with an average salary of $79,949. Accenture follows up with an average salary of $83,678, and then comes Cytel with an average of $111,063. In addition, we know most people would rather work from home. So instead of having to change careers, we identified the best employers for remote work as a senior programmer. The employers include Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, and Merck
Most Common Employers For Senior Programmer
| Rank  | Company  | Average Salary  | Hourly Rate  | Job Openings  |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Citi | $132,454 | $63.68 | 28 |
| 2 | PlayStation | $129,710 | $62.36 | 31 |
| 3 | Rockstar Games | $123,639 | $59.44 | 28 |
| 4 | American Express | $112,333 | $54.01 | 47 |
| 5 | Cytel | $111,063 | $53.40 | 149 |
| 6 | General Dynamics | $110,339 | $53.05 | 23 |
| 7 | Parexel International | $110,279 | $53.02 | 113 |
| 8 | Tech Data | $109,112 | $52.46 | 146 |
| 9 | Covance | $106,508 | $51.21 | 108 |
| 10 | Gilead Sciences | $103,518 | $49.77 | 127 |
Senior Programmer Videos
