Senior system operator vs senior system administrator

The differences between senior system operators and senior system administrators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become a senior system operator, becoming a senior system administrator takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a senior system administrator has an average salary of $98,146, which is higher than the $70,807 average annual salary of a senior system operator.

The top three skills for a senior system operator include NERC, transmission systems and hardware problems. The most important skills for a senior system administrator are linux, windows server, and troubleshoot.

Senior system operator vs senior system administrator overview

	Senior System Operator	Senior System Administrator
Yearly salary	$70,807	$98,146
Hourly rate	$34.04	$47.19
Growth rate	-7%	5%
Number of jobs	40,735	100,873
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Average age	47	43
Years of experience	12	2

Senior system operator vs senior system administrator salary

Senior system operators and senior system administrators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Senior System Operator	Senior System Administrator
Average salary	$70,807	$98,146
Salary range	Between $46,000 And $107,000	Between $75,000 And $126,000
Highest paying City	-	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	-	California
Best paying company	-	Cambridge Associates
Best paying industry	-	Finance

Differences between senior system operator and senior system administrator education

There are a few differences between a senior system operator and a senior system administrator in terms of educational background:

	Senior System Operator	Senior System Administrator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Most common major	Business	Computer Science
Most common college	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Senior system operator vs senior system administrator demographics

Here are the differences between senior system operators' and senior system administrators' demographics:

	Senior System Operator	Senior System Administrator
Average age	47	43
Gender ratio	Male, 78.4% Female, 21.6%	Male, 89.0% Female, 11.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.8% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 12.6% Asian, 1.8% White, 70.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.6%	Black or African American, 8.9% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.6% Asian, 11.8% White, 61.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	5%	9%

Differences between senior system operator and senior system administrator duties and responsibilities

Senior system operator example 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.
Operate full SCADA system, including pressure regulating valves, wells and pumping stations.
Relay security codes to node centers and respond promptly to trouble calls with a secret security clearance.

Senior system administrator example responsibilities.

Manage and optimize the design and delivery of project associate with AIX arena.
Manage all installs and setup of new servers, and server upgrades to server 2008 R2.
Implement IIS servers for both the internal and external web servers and managing security on all web servers.
Design, implement, and manage a network and domain extension in a remote location via a secure VPN link.
Manage Cisco network equipment including firewalls and switches.
Administer and manage daily backups via Symantec NetBackup.

Senior system operator vs senior system administrator skills

Common senior system operator skills

NERC, 18%
Transmission Systems, 8%
Hardware Problems, 6%
Printers, 5%
Node, 4%
Troubleshoot, 4%

Common senior system administrator skills

Linux, 7%
Windows Server, 6%
Troubleshoot, 5%
System Administration, 4%
PowerShell, 4%
SAN, 4%

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Senior System Operator vs Senior System Administrator

Updated January 8, 2025

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