How To Become A Senior System Operator: What It Is and Career Path

What is a senior system operator and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a senior system operator. For example, did you know that they make an average of $34.04 an hour? That's $70,807 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -7% and produce -8,600 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreSenior System OperatorUS Average

Salary

5.5

Avg. Salary $70,807

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.6

Growth rate -7%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 2.60%

Asian 1.84%

Black or African American 7.77%

Hispanic or Latino 12.61%

Unknown 4.58%

White 70.60%

Gender

female 21.64%

male 78.36%

Age - 47.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 47.5

Stress level

8.6

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.2

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.8

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a senior system operator

Explore senior system operator education requirements

Most common senior system operator degrees

Bachelor's

43.9 %

Associate

35.4 %

High School Diploma

7.3 %

Start to develop specific senior system operator skills

Skills	Percentages
NERC	17.88%
Transmission Systems	7.71%
Hardware Problems	6.32%
Printers	5.34%
Node	4.32%

Complete relevant senior system operator training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New senior system operators learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a senior system operator based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real senior system operator resumes.

Research senior system operator duties and responsibilities

Supervise and lead teams to be proficient in proprietary and commercial production and supply management software.
Manage trouble ticketing systems and escalations to ensure VoIP service availability.
Train on operating CISCO routers, switches, call managers, and LAN managers.
Provide technical support for the enrollment of Iraqi nationals, DoD personnel and military.

Get senior system operator experience

Generally, it takes 6-12 months to become a senior system operator. The most common roles before becoming a senior system operator include systems operator, computer operator team lead and senior computer operator.

Prepare your senior system operator resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior system operator resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a senior system operator resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable senior system operator resume templates

Build a professional senior system operator resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your senior system operator resume.