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The differences between senior project specialists and project management leads can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a senior project specialist and a project management lead. Additionally, a senior project specialist has an average salary of $87,213, which is higher than the $85,117 average annual salary of a project management lead.
The top three skills for a senior project specialist include project management, powerpoint and status reports. The most important skills for a project management lead are project management, customer service, and portfolio.
| Senior Project Specialist | Project Management Lead | |
| Yearly salary | $87,213 | $85,117 |
| Hourly rate | $41.93 | $40.92 |
| Growth rate | 11% | 11% |
| Number of jobs | 111,859 | 158,441 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
The job of a senior project specialist is to manage a portfolio of projects and ensure that these projects achieve quality development outcomes. You will perform a variety of duties that include providing day-to-day support to teams, preparing and reviewing requests for project-related activities, and overseeing the project's financial aspects by reviewing monthly invoices. In addition, you will monitor monthly costs and track contract expenditures against total obligated funds and budget. As a senior project specialist, it is also your responsibility to recruit short- and long-term personnel.
A project management lead is in charge of overseeing all processes involved in the planning and delivery of projects in an organization. Their responsibilities typically revolve around coordinating departments and personnel involved in every project to ensure accuracy and timeliness, managing budget and expenditures, producing progress reports and presentations, assessing risks, and delivering optimal quality results. Furthermore, as a management lead, it is crucial to lead and encourage team members, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
Senior project specialists and project management leads have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Project Specialist | Project Management Lead | |
| Average salary | $87,213 | $85,117 |
| Salary range | Between $67,000 And $112,000 | Between $53,000 And $136,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | Idaho | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Amazon | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Insurance | Energy |
There are a few differences between a senior project specialist and a project management lead in terms of educational background:
| Senior Project Specialist | Project Management Lead | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between senior project specialists' and project management leads' demographics:
| Senior Project Specialist | Project Management Lead | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 50.0% Female, 50.0% | Male, 59.2% Female, 40.8% |
| 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% |