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The differences between senior software engineers lead and software engineers-consultant can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a senior software engineer lead and a software engineer-consultant. Additionally, a senior software engineer lead has an average salary of $129,060, which is higher than the $113,987 average annual salary of a software engineer-consultant.
The top three skills for a senior software engineer lead include java, architecture and software development. The most important skills for a software engineer-consultant are java, python, and architecture.
| Senior Software Engineer Lead | Software Engineer-Consultant | |
| Yearly salary | $129,060 | $113,987 |
| Hourly rate | $62.05 | $54.80 |
| Growth rate | 21% | 21% |
| Number of jobs | 322,973 | 317,033 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 71% |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A senior software engineer lead is responsible for overseeing the software creation process. They analyze projects, rectify errors, interpret project requirements, and develop detailed designs. They must create reports of all weekly tasks and ensure best practices are followed by their team.
A software engineer consultant develops and recommends strategies to optimize a company's software engineering operations. Their responsibilities revolve around conducting extensive research and analysis to find new opportunities, performing software evaluations and risk assessments, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of existing processes, and developing solutions against problem areas. Through the findings of their research, a software engineer consultant draws conclusions and recommendations that will help the company to reach their short and long-term goals and resolve issues or concerns.
Senior software engineers lead and software engineers-consultant have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Software Engineer Lead | Software Engineer-Consultant | |
| Average salary | $129,060 | $113,987 |
| Salary range | Between $96,000 And $173,000 | Between $85,000 And $152,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | Foster City, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | California |
| Best paying company | PitchBook Data | Advent Software |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Insurance |
There are a few differences between a senior software engineer lead and a software engineer-consultant in terms of educational background:
| Senior Software Engineer Lead | Software Engineer-Consultant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 71% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Harvard University | Harvard University |
Here are the differences between senior software engineers lead' and software engineers-consultant' demographics:
| Senior Software Engineer Lead | Software Engineer-Consultant | |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 79.0% Female, 21.0% | Male, 86.1% Female, 13.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.5% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.2% Asian, 33.4% White, 48.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 4.7% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 8.4% Asian, 29.7% White, 52.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 8% |