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What does a senior software support engineer do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read
Quoted expert
Frank McCown Ph.D.
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Senior software support engineer responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real senior software support engineer resumes:

  • Conduct several interviews with management and end-users which lead to finish the database application.
  • Analyze logs and relevant data to troubleshoot and recreate customer issues to determine the root cause of the problem.
  • Design the relays control algorithms and used C++ code to implement a software tool for debugging Cx100 hardware processor card.
  • Develop software installation reports to reveal correlation between software releases installs and specific trace data using SQL, HTML and JavaScript.
  • Help customer with CSS, HTML, SQL configuration.
  • Automate the testing procedure for ClarifyCRM (Linux systems).
  • Develop and maintain the support team's HTML knowledge base.
  • Provide on call support to respond to critical production and QA issues.
  • Implement ATM AAL1 in the product and test tools in Linux using C/C++.
  • Develop JSP, Servlets, EJB classes and other helping Java classes for local applications.
  • Involve with QA team to ensure that all features are proper regression test suites and test coverage.
  • Design and create services in Java from scratch and done enhancements to existing services to support new features.
  • Create and install various shell scripts in customers field systems and test beds to collect data and troubleshoot.
  • Create a custom, single-page, responsive web application to replace a legacy line-of-business web application using AngularJS.
  • Design solutions, leveraging custom MVC framework, HTML5+CSS3, and jQuery

Senior software support engineer skills and personality traits

We calculated that 27% of Senior Software Support Engineers are proficient in Java, Windows, and Linux. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Communication skills, and Creativity.

We break down the percentage of Senior Software Support Engineers that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Java, 27%

    Use the BankSphere Technologies, likes Mira, Vega, Java, JavaScript, and Server WSAD.

  • Windows, 8%

    Provided specialized cross-platform technology engineering assistance for application support, Windows Server, OS level/integration, and networking incidents.

  • Linux, 5%

    Ported DSL loop measurement C++ code from Window CE system to real-time Linux system.

  • Troubleshoot, 5%

    Analyzed logs and relevant data to troubleshoot and recreate customer issues to determine the root cause of the problem.

  • Technical Support, 4%

    Trained and assisted technical support team members in supporting Storage Foundation products including VolumeManager, and File System.

  • JavaScript, 4%

    Developed software installation reports to reveal correlation between software releases installs and specific trace data using SQL, HTML and JavaScript.

Most senior software support engineers use their skills in "java," "windows," and "linux" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential senior software support engineer responsibilities here:

Analytical skills. One of the key soft skills for a senior software support engineer to have is analytical skills. You can see how this relates to what senior software support engineers do because "developers must analyze users’ needs and then design software to meet those needs." Additionally, a senior software support engineer resume shows how senior software support engineers use analytical skills: "developed java modules to query, list and filter both postgresql and oracle alarm databases for nec spectralwave manager ems. "

Communication skills. Another essential skill to perform senior software support engineer duties is communication skills. Senior software support engineers responsibilities require that "developers must be able to give clear instructions to others working on a project." Senior software support engineers also use communication skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "design and implement socket communication between c++ and python using win32 socket and json fromat. "

Creativity. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of senior software support engineers is creativity. This skill is critical to many everyday senior software support engineer duties, as "developers are the creative minds behind new computer software." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "leveraged it best practices to provide extraordinary customer service, with creative and timely resolution of issues. "

Detail oriented. A big part of what senior software support engineers do relies on "detail oriented." You can see how essential it is to senior software support engineer responsibilities because "developers often work on many parts of an application or system at the same time and must therefore be able to concentrate and pay attention to detail." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical senior software support engineer tasks: "replicate customer problems and environments for detailed investigation by developers. "

Problem-solving skills. Another common skill required for senior software support engineer responsibilities is "problem-solving skills." This skill comes up in the duties of senior software support engineers all the time, as "because developers are in charge of software from beginning to end, they must be able to solve problems that arise throughout the design process." An excerpt from a real senior software support engineer resume shows how this skill is central to what a senior software support engineer does: "resolved system problems escalated from customer support. "

See the full list of senior software support engineer skills

Choose from 10+ customizable senior software support engineer resume templates

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Compare different senior software support engineers

Senior software support engineer vs. Software architect

A Software Architect develops new programs for a variety of technological devices for businesses, computer games, mobile networks, and/or operating systems. They ensure architectural integrity and consistency across the entire product and work closely with executives to explain the benefits of the software.

The annual salary of software architects is $1,038 lower than the average salary of senior software support engineers.While the two careers have a salary gap, they share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both senior software support engineer and software architect positions are skilled in java, windows, and linux.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, senior software support engineer responsibilities require skills like "troubleshoot," "c #," "technical support," and "customer support." Meanwhile a typical software architect has skills in areas such as "cloud," "software development," "python," and "scrum." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

Software architects earn the highest salaries when working in the health care industry, with an average yearly salary of $119,142. On the other hand, senior software support engineers are paid more in the professional industry with an average salary of $122,724.On average, software architects reach higher levels of education than senior software support engineers. Software architects are 12.7% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 1.6% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Senior software support engineer vs. Lead engineer

A lead engineer's duties vary on their line of work or industry of employment. Typically, their responsibilities will revolve around overseeing the progress of operations and performance of the workforce, ensuring that everything is running smoothly. They are also responsible for addressing issues and concerns, assessing risks, monitoring the budget, coordinating with clients and architects, and even training workers. Furthermore, as a lead engineer, it is crucial to conduct regular inspections to ensure the quality of work and maintain a safe environment for all workers.

On average, lead engineers earn a $30,517 lower salary than senior software support engineers a year.Only some things about these jobs are the same. Take their skills, for example. Senior software support engineers and lead engineers both require similar skills like "java," "windows," and "linux" to carry out their responsibilities.

Each career also uses different skills, according to real senior software support engineer resumes. While senior software support engineer responsibilities can utilize skills like "customer support," "software support," "c," and "production environment," lead engineers use skills like "python," "git," "database," and "azure."

On average, lead engineers earn a lower salary than senior software support engineers. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, lead engineers earn the most pay in the automotive industry with an average salary of $110,872. Whereas senior software support engineers have higher pay in the professional industry, with an average salary of $122,724.In general, lead engineers achieve higher levels of education than senior software support engineers. They're 5.2% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 1.6% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for senior software support engineers in the next 3-5 years?

Frank McCown Ph.D.Frank McCown Ph.D. LinkedIn profile

Associate Professor, Harding University

Software continues to move to mobile devices and the web and away from desktop applications. The pandemic has encouraged growth in applications that make in-person transactions go away, and that trend will likely continue. Obviously AI-enabled or assisted applications will continue to grow.

Senior software support engineer vs. Software engineer-consultant

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.

An average software engineer-consultant eans a lower salary compared to the average salary of senior software support engineers. The difference in salaries amounts to software engineers-consultant earning a $1,457 lower average salary than senior software support engineers.By looking over several senior software support engineers and software engineers-consultant resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "java," "linux," and "jenkins." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, senior software support engineers are more likely to have skills like "windows," "troubleshoot," "c #," and "technical support." But a software engineer-consultant is more likely to have skills like "python," "software development," "scrum," and "database."

Software engineers-consultant earn the best pay in the insurance industry, where they command an average salary of $118,185. Senior software support engineers earn the highest pay from the professional industry, with an average salary of $122,724.software engineers-consultant typically earn higher educational levels compared to senior software support engineers. Specifically, they're 7.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.6% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Senior software support engineer vs. Software engineer lead

A Software Engineer Lead is focused on developing and testing software programs. They manage a team of software engineers that design enterprise software products and operating systems.

Software engineers lead tend to earn a higher pay than senior software support engineers by an average of $10,121 per year.While their salaries may vary, senior software support engineers and software engineers lead both use similar skills to perform their duties. Resumes from both professions include skills like "java," "windows," and "linux. "While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "troubleshoot," "c #," "customer support," and "software support" are skills that commonly show up on senior software support engineer resumes. On the other hand, software engineers lead use skills like python, software development, aws, and spring boot on their resumes.The automotive industry tends to pay the highest salaries for software engineers lead, with average annual pay of $125,218. Comparatively, the highest senior software support engineer annual salary comes from the professional industry.software engineers lead reach higher levels of education compared to senior software support engineers, in general. The difference is that they're 10.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.8% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of senior software support engineer

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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