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The differences between senior project specialists and project management specialists 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 project specialist, becoming a project management specialist takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a senior project specialist has an average salary of $87,213, which is higher than the $81,204 average annual salary of a project management specialist.
The top three skills for a senior project specialist include project management, powerpoint and status reports. The most important skills for a project management specialist are PMP, powerpoint, and status reports.
| Senior Project Specialist | Project Management Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $87,213 | $81,204 |
| Hourly rate | $41.93 | $39.04 |
| Growth rate | 11% | 11% |
| Number of jobs | 111,859 | 145,872 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 4 |
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 specialist is an individual who manages an entire project and serves as a point of contact for a client or customer. Project management specialists must provide detailed cost analysis and timetable reports to keep projects on schedule and budget. They must ask for frequent updates from all staff assigned so that they can identify potential problems that may keep projects from being completed on time. Project management specialists must also prepare progress reports of projects and create presentations for senior management.
Senior project specialists and project management specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Project Specialist | Project Management Specialist | |
| Average salary | $87,213 | $81,204 |
| Salary range | Between $67,000 And $112,000 | Between $58,000 And $112,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Bridgewater, NJ |
| Highest paying state | Idaho | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Amazon | Enbridge |
| Best paying industry | Insurance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a senior project specialist and a project management specialist in terms of educational background:
| Senior Project Specialist | Project Management Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between senior project specialists' and project management specialists' demographics:
| Senior Project Specialist | Project Management Specialist | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 50.0% Female, 50.0% | Male, 52.4% Female, 47.6% |
| 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, 8.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 8.9% Asian, 11.8% White, 66.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 12% |