Senior security consultant vs network security engineer

The differences between senior security consultants and network security engineers 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 security consultant, becoming a network security engineer takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a senior security consultant has an average salary of $120,769, which is higher than the $88,322 average annual salary of a network security engineer.

The top three skills for a senior security consultant include cloud security, infrastructure and governance. The most important skills for a network security engineer are network security, windows, and cisco asa.

Senior security consultant vs network security engineer overview

	Senior Security Consultant	Network Security Engineer
Yearly salary	$120,769	$88,322
Hourly rate	$58.06	$42.46
Growth rate	32%	5%
Number of jobs	66,226	91,892
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Average age	42	43
Years of experience	6	2

What does a senior security consultant do?

A senior security consultant is an information technology (IT) expert specializing in establishing security protocols and systems to protect a company's data and network. Their responsibilities revolve around performing internal research and analysis to identify the strengths and weaknesses of current IT security systems, recommending solutions to problem areas, and suggesting new tools and techniques to improve data security. Furthermore, as a senior security consultant, it is essential to monitor the company's systems and networks and promptly respond to any breaches, conducting corrective and preventive measures to prevent it from ever happening again.

What does a network security engineer do?

A network security engineer is responsible for maintaining the safety and security of all the organization's network systems, conducting regular configuration and maintenance to avoid unauthorized access and suspicious activities that may pose risks for the company's integrity. Network security engineers manage security threats and strategize resolutions to mitigate the reoccurrence of security issues. They also develop security enhancement recommendations, update network infrastructure, and monitor system activities. A network security engineer should have excellent communication and technical skills, as well as a strong command of programming languages and system codes.

Senior security consultant vs network security engineer salary

Senior security consultants and network security engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Senior Security Consultant	Network Security Engineer
Average salary	$120,769	$88,322
Salary range	Between $91,000 And $159,000	Between $64,000 And $120,000
Highest paying City	Sacramento, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Nevada	California
Best paying company	Amazon	The Knot
Best paying industry	Technology	Retail

Differences between senior security consultant and network security engineer education

There are a few differences between a senior security consultant and a network security engineer in terms of educational background:

	Senior Security Consultant	Network Security Engineer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Most common major	Business	Computer Science
Most common college	Stanford University	Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Senior security consultant vs network security engineer demographics

Here are the differences between senior security consultants' and network security engineers' demographics:

	Senior Security Consultant	Network Security Engineer
Average age	42	43
Gender ratio	Male, 86.1% Female, 13.9%	Male, 90.7% Female, 9.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.0% Asian, 9.6% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 8.0% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.7% Asian, 13.9% White, 61.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between senior security consultant and network security engineer duties and responsibilities

Senior security consultant example responsibilities.

Manage GLBA security awareness and training program and annual information security awareness activities.
Work alongside the QA department to ensure all documents are concise and well written in order to meet ISO's standards.
Monitor company s internal logs and traffic via Splunk to proactively investigate suspicious traffic and determine if the anomalies are malicious.
Perform email and file encryption transition for global financial/insurance company.
Assist organizations with creation of their management systems and registration to international (ISO) security and service management standards.
Provide technical leadership, task management, and engineering support to customers in the development of cryptography and key management solutions.

Network security engineer example responsibilities.

Add and manage nodes in SolarWinds for monitoring purposes using SNMP v1/v2/v3.
Work with VMware NSX with deployment of greenfield environment and managing and troubleshooting issues with NSX.
Interact successfully with both program leads and DoD customer to ensure objectives are completed on time.
Experience in managing and troubleshooting Linux or Unix base operating systems.
Manage information technology security, including backups, firewalls, and routers.
Design and manage information systems security policy, implementation, and management for a globally distribute MPLS infrastructure.

Senior security consultant vs network security engineer skills

Common senior security consultant skills

Cloud Security, 9%
Infrastructure, 7%
Governance, 5%
Java, 5%
Risk Management, 5%
Access Management, 4%

Common network security engineer skills

Network Security, 10%
Windows, 5%
Cisco Asa, 4%
Switches, 4%
Linux, 4%
Troubleshoot, 3%

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Senior Security Consultant vs Network Security Engineer

Updated January 8, 2025

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