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Senior research manager vs research consultant

The differences between senior research managers and research consultants 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 research manager and a research consultant. Additionally, a senior research manager has an average salary of $104,701, which is higher than the $83,492 average annual salary of a research consultant.

The top three skills for a senior research manager include project management, data collection and powerpoint. The most important skills for a research consultant are data collection, medicaid, and business development.

Senior research manager vs research consultant overview

Senior Research ManagerResearch Consultant
Yearly salary$104,701$83,492
Hourly rate$50.34$40.14
Growth rate19%19%
Number of jobs50,56161,865
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 65%Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Average age3737
Years of experience66

What does a senior research manager do?

A senior research manager is an executive professional who manages the integration of internal and external information sources to deliver exceptional insights to clients and contribute to the development of a company's strategic research framework. Senior research managers are required to demonstrate extensive knowledge of products and services so that they can identify and propose potential opportunities with existing and new clients. They must supervise a team to ensure flawless execution of all market research projects from design to delivery. Senior research managers must also mentor staff to build client understanding across all disciplines.

What does a research consultant do?

A research consultant is an individual who is responsible for collecting and analyzing multiple types of data across a variety of formats and present research reports for research and analytics companies, public institutions, and private businesses. Research consultants are required to design research strategies to complete the needs of research projects as well as create a basic plan of action for finding data. They may use online resources, phone surveys, and other data-collection methods to find and collect data. Research consultants must also assign investigative teams to verify and double-check the collected data.

Senior research manager vs research consultant salary

Senior research managers and research consultants have different pay scales, as shown below.

Senior Research ManagerResearch Consultant
Average salary$104,701$83,492
Salary rangeBetween $66,000 And $164,000Between $60,000 And $115,000
Highest paying CityOlympia, WANew York, NY
Highest paying stateWashingtonNew York
Best paying companyMacerichMicrosoft
Best paying industryFinanceEducation

Differences between senior research manager and research consultant education

There are a few differences between a senior research manager and a research consultant in terms of educational background:

Senior Research ManagerResearch Consultant
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 65%Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Most common majorMarketingPsychology
Most common collegeUniversity of GeorgiaUniversity of Georgia

Senior research manager vs research consultant demographics

Here are the differences between senior research managers' and research consultants' demographics:

Senior Research ManagerResearch Consultant
Average age3737
Gender ratioMale, 50.9% Female, 49.1%Male, 48.2% Female, 51.8%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 4.8% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 11.3% Asian, 14.4% White, 64.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%Black or African American, 4.7% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 11.1% Asian, 14.0% White, 65.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage10%10%

Differences between senior research manager and research consultant duties and responsibilities

Senior research manager example responsibilities.

  • Lead a team of researchers in data visualization, gamification, and medication adherence.
  • Lead a team of three, including one direct report, for distributing daily Nielsen ratings results.
  • Achieve high quality deliverables evident by sponsor company feedback, FDA deliverables and balance budgets, scope and timely delivery.
  • Manage all top and regional accounts, ensuring all multi-asset classes of research are included and building relationships for the future.
  • Manage SAS programming staff, participate in hardware/software specifications and acquisition
  • Manage research department employees and resources, operational budget preparation and oversight.
  • Show more

Research consultant example responsibilities.

  • Lead research team in IRB transition from traditional hard copy submission to electronic submission.
  • Develop an SQL solution to automate performance attribution reports.
  • Attain and practice medical insurance information rapidly and correctly; including main carriers and Medicaid.
  • Design and oversee implementation of decision-analytic models and database analyses using SAS, SPSS, and STATA.
  • Pull, merge data by using SAS, and assign tags.
  • Isolate, purify and quantify DNA from human blood.
  • Show more

Senior research manager vs research consultant skills

Common senior research manager skills
  • Project Management, 11%
  • Data Collection, 6%
  • PowerPoint, 5%
  • Research Studies, 5%
  • FDA, 4%
  • Data Analysis, 3%
Common research consultant skills
  • Data Collection, 12%
  • Medicaid, 8%
  • Business Development, 6%
  • Study Design, 5%
  • Data Analysis, 5%
  • Survey Design, 5%

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