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Senior technical editor vs senior technical writer

The differences between senior technical editors and senior technical writers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a senior technical editor, becoming a senior technical writer takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a senior technical writer has an average salary of $70,820, which is higher than the $60,374 average annual salary of a senior technical editor.

The top three skills for a senior technical editor include technical documentation, technical editing and subject matter experts. The most important skills for a senior technical writer are technical documentation, subject matter experts, and API.

Senior technical editor vs senior technical writer overview

Senior Technical EditorSenior Technical Writer
Yearly salary$60,374$70,820
Hourly rate$29.03$34.05
Growth rate-5%6%
Number of jobs72,14380,897
Job satisfaction-4
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 74%Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Average age4446
Years of experience42

Senior technical editor vs senior technical writer salary

Senior technical editors and senior technical writers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Senior Technical EditorSenior Technical Writer
Average salary$60,374$70,820
Salary rangeBetween $44,000 And $81,000Between $54,000 And $92,000
Highest paying City-San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state-California
Best paying company-PayPal
Best paying industry-Technology

Differences between senior technical editor and senior technical writer education

There are a few differences between a senior technical editor and a senior technical writer in terms of educational background:

Senior Technical EditorSenior Technical Writer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 74%Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Most common majorEnglishEnglish
Most common collegeNorthwestern UniversityUniversity of Houston

Senior technical editor vs senior technical writer demographics

Here are the differences between senior technical editors' and senior technical writers' demographics:

Senior Technical EditorSenior Technical Writer
Average age4446
Gender ratioMale, 44.8% Female, 55.2%Male, 51.8% Female, 48.2%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 3.5% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 7.0% White, 76.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%Black or African American, 6.6% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 8.7% White, 71.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage12%11%

Differences between senior technical editor and senior technical writer duties and responsibilities

Senior technical editor example responsibilities.

  • Identify and initiate wholesale computer upgrade to accommodate new CMS while allocating and managing staff resources devote to developing the software.
  • Create, maintain, and post documents to the Internet in HTML, SHTML, Wiki, and XML formats.
  • Maintain the release notes on the web, using HTML to provide ongoing/daily updates.
  • Assess XML authoring tools in preparation for migrating FrameMaker documents to a modular, reusable, structure authoring environment.
  • Translate DOD issuances into JTF capm issuances.
  • Train writers on principles of indexing (with FrameMaker and IXgen).
  • Show more

Senior technical writer example responsibilities.

  • Manage and participate in logistics programs, and commercial and DOD technical manual complements.
  • Manage team activities for internal and client documentation development that supports the SDLC methodology.
  • Lead team to deliver the first simultaneous release of the product stack across UNIX platforms.
  • Manage multiple SharePoint sites for active documentation projects and resulting archives to meet customer version control and compliance requirements.
  • Identify and initiate wholesale computer upgrade to accommodate new CMS while allocating and managing staff resources devote to developing the software.
  • Design and develop standalone and context-sensitive help with RoboHelp HTML, enhancing application usability.
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Senior technical editor vs senior technical writer skills

Common senior technical editor skills
  • Technical Documentation, 8%
  • Technical Editing, 7%
  • Subject Matter Experts, 7%
  • Proofread, 6%
  • Proofreading, 5%
  • SharePoint, 5%
Common senior technical writer skills
  • Technical Documentation, 7%
  • Subject Matter Experts, 6%
  • API, 4%
  • Java, 4%
  • PowerPoint, 4%
  • XML, 4%

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