Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between service engineers and lead engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a service engineer and a lead engineer. Additionally, a service engineer has an average salary of $87,151, which is higher than the $84,927 average annual salary of a lead engineer.
The top three skills for a service engineer include customer service, infrastructure and cloud. The most important skills for a lead engineer are java, python, and architecture.
| Service Engineer | Lead Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $87,151 | $84,927 |
| Hourly rate | $41.90 | $40.83 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 143,806 | 301,777 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 57% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A service engineer is responsible for assisting the customers' concerns regarding the products and services offered by the company through technical support solutions. Service engineers conduct preventive maintenance, upgrade systems to boost optimal performance, create product manuals, record the occurring issues, perform adjustments on the systems infrastructure, identify business opportunities to generate more revenues, and analyze current market trends to meet client demands. A service engineer must have excellent communication skills, including extensive knowledge of the technology industry and network systems.
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.
Service engineers and lead engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Service Engineer | Lead Engineer | |
| Average salary | $87,151 | $84,927 |
| Salary range | Between $62,000 And $122,000 | Between $60,000 And $120,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | The Citadel | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Automotive |
There are a few differences between a service engineer and a lead engineer in terms of educational background:
| Service Engineer | Lead Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 57% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Michigan Technological University | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between service engineers' and lead engineers' demographics:
| Service Engineer | Lead Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 91.8% Female, 8.2% | Male, 90.8% Female, 9.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.3% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 8.9% Asian, 13.2% White, 69.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 16.8% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |