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The differences between senior reliability engineers and senior staff engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a senior reliability engineer, becoming a senior staff engineer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a senior staff engineer has an average salary of $136,031, which is higher than the $121,562 average annual salary of a senior reliability engineer.
The top three skills for a senior reliability engineer include jenkins, azure and ruby. The most important skills for a senior staff engineer are python, java, and architecture.
| Senior Reliability Engineer | Senior Staff Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $121,562 | $136,031 |
| Hourly rate | $58.44 | $65.40 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 38,101 | 239,752 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Average age | 42 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 6 |
Senior reliability engineers are responsible for identifying and managing asset reliability risks that can cause a stoppage and delay of plant or business operations. They are responsible for monitoring production losses and high-maintenance cost assets and finding ways to reduce them. Other duties typically include working closely with project engineers to ensure the reliability of new and existing installations, participating in the final inspection of new installations, and providing input to plans aimed at mitigating and managing risks.
A senior staff engineer is responsible for supervising a team of engineers, chemists, software developers, or molecular biologists. His/Her or her responsibilities include generating Structured Query Language (SQL) performance audit checklist template, creating SQL data query routines and functions for data extraction, and working directly with stakeholders. The job requires strong mechanical, listening, and mathematical skills and proficiency in Python programming language and computer architecture and hardware. The education requirements for the job include a bachelor's or master's degree in electrical engineering, business, mechanical engineering, or a related field.
Senior reliability engineers and senior staff engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Reliability Engineer | Senior Staff Engineer | |
| Average salary | $121,562 | $136,031 |
| Salary range | Between $90,000 And $163,000 | Between $95,000 And $194,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Mateo, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Airbnb | |
| Best paying industry | Internet | Telecommunication |
There are a few differences between a senior reliability engineer and a senior staff engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Reliability Engineer | Senior Staff Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | California State Polytechnic University, Pomona |
Here are the differences between senior reliability engineers' and senior staff engineers' demographics:
| Senior Reliability Engineer | Senior Staff Engineer | |
| Average age | 42 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 87.7% Female, 12.3% | Male, 78.4% Female, 21.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.5% Asian, 15.5% White, 65.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 16.8% White, 67.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 5% |