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Software project leader vs staff software engineer

The differences between software project leaders and staff 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 staff software engineer. Additionally, a staff software engineer has an average salary of $136,653, which is higher than the $109,474 average annual salary of a software project leader.

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

Software project leader vs staff software engineer overview

Software Project LeaderStaff Software Engineer
Yearly salary$109,474$136,653
Hourly rate$52.63$65.70
Growth rate21%21%
Number of jobs247,780371,213
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 71%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Average age3939
Years of experience44

Software project leader vs staff software engineer salary

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

Software Project LeaderStaff Software Engineer
Average salary$109,474$136,653
Salary rangeBetween $84,000 And $142,000Between $100,000 And $186,000
Highest paying CityCupertino, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaAlaska
Best paying companyBoston Consulting GroupAirbnb
Best paying industryManufacturingRetail

Differences between software project leader and staff software engineer education

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

Software Project LeaderStaff Software Engineer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 71%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Most common majorComputer ScienceComputer Science
Most common collegeMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyHarvard University

Software project leader vs staff software engineer demographics

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

Software Project LeaderStaff Software Engineer
Average age3939
Gender ratioMale, 75.1% Female, 24.9%Male, 83.0% Female, 17.0%
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, 4.6% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 8.4% Asian, 33.5% White, 48.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage8%8%

Differences between software project leader and staff 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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Staff software engineer example responsibilities.

  • Manage source code and integration for team with git, svn and Jenkins.
  • Utilize JavaScript, AJAX and HTML markup to create, edit and manage filters.
  • Lead the functional verification test team for the security component of IBM z/OS WebSphere.
  • Lead the development of QDSS windows driver and tool chain to use QDSS features for windows platform.
  • Lead a 5-person development team for the BCRS customer recovery solution system in Maximo 7.1 and J2EE.
  • Work with QA for different eBay modules to review and automate tests for testing new functionality on site.
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Software project leader vs staff software engineer skills

Common software project leader skills
  • Software Development, 15%
  • Project Management, 9%
  • Scrum, 8%
  • C, 6%
  • C++, 6%
  • Java, 6%
Common staff software engineer skills
  • Java, 18%
  • Python, 8%
  • Software Development, 7%
  • Architecture, 6%
  • Object Oriented Programming, 3%
  • Linux, 3%

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