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Software project leader vs software engineer

The differences between software project leaders and software engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a software project leader and a software engineer. Additionally, a software project leader has an average salary of $109,474, which is higher than the $100,260 average annual salary of a software engineer.

The top three skills for a software project leader include software development, project management and scrum. The most important skills for a software engineer are java, python, and software development.

Software project leader vs software engineer overview

Software Project LeaderSoftware Engineer
Yearly salary$109,474$100,260
Hourly rate$52.63$48.20
Growth rate21%21%
Number of jobs247,780339,938
Job satisfaction-3.5
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 71%Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Average age3939
Years of experience44

Software project leader vs software engineer salary

Software project leaders and software engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Software Project LeaderSoftware Engineer
Average salary$109,474$100,260
Salary rangeBetween $84,000 And $142,000Between $73,000 And $136,000
Highest paying CityCupertino, CASan Bruno, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best paying companyBoston Consulting GroupThe Citadel
Best paying industryManufacturingStart-up

Differences between software project leader and software engineer education

There are a few differences between a software project leader and a software engineer in terms of educational background:

Software Project LeaderSoftware Engineer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 71%Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Most common majorComputer ScienceComputer Science
Most common collegeMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyHarvard University

Software project leader vs software engineer demographics

Here are the differences between software project leaders' and software engineers' demographics:

Software Project LeaderSoftware Engineer
Average age3939
Gender ratioMale, 75.1% Female, 24.9%Male, 78.0% Female, 22.0%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 4.6% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 8.4% Asian, 29.8% White, 52.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 4.4% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.1% Asian, 34.0% White, 48.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage8%8%

Differences between software project leader and software engineer duties and responsibilities

Software project leader example responsibilities.

  • Lead daily scrum meetings, organize and chair scrums with cross-functional teams to deliver the product goals and deliverables.
  • Maintain mature java-base web application design to automate highly detail engineering requests for the DoD.
  • Provide guidance and support to scrum team members, remove impediments and assist teams to maximize productivity.
  • Develop excellent debugging, analytical and programming skills.
  • Create the architecture framework for dynamically setting properties and property types for oracle using reflection.
  • Design enterprise software, including requirements analysis, software architecture, user interface, and database schema.
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Software engineer example responsibilities.

  • Manage product releases, solve software bugs in a client/server environment, write UNIX shell scripts to manage development environments.
  • Manage responsive UI design, implementing complex, dynamic functionality.
  • Define continuous integration process and configure Jenkins build server to manage it.
  • Develop a python serial communication program to automate test procedures and verify proper operation.
  • Manage website/software/mobile applications by generating full scope requirements base upon PMI / SDLC guidance.
  • Contribute to implementing microservices used to manage entities and maintain a synchronize state between supplier and distributor.
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Software project leader vs software engineer skills

Common software project leader skills
  • Software Development, 15%
  • Project Management, 9%
  • Scrum, 8%
  • C, 6%
  • C++, 6%
  • Java, 6%
Common software engineer skills
  • Java, 15%
  • Python, 9%
  • Software Development, 6%
  • Database, 3%
  • GIT, 3%
  • Object Oriented Programming, 3%

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