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Software project leader vs team lead/manager

The differences between software project leaders and team lead/managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a software project leader, becoming a team lead/manager takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a software project leader has an average salary of $109,474, which is higher than the $88,042 average annual salary of a team lead/manager.

The top three skills for a software project leader include software development, project management and scrum. The most important skills for a team lead/manager are excellent interpersonal, customer service, and cleanliness.

Software project leader vs team lead/manager overview

Software Project LeaderTeam Lead/Manager
Yearly salary$109,474$88,042
Hourly rate$52.63$42.33
Growth rate21%8%
Number of jobs247,780194,880
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 71%Bachelor's Degree, 56%
Average age3943
Years of experience46

Software project leader vs team lead/manager salary

Software project leaders and team lead/managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Software Project LeaderTeam Lead/Manager
Average salary$109,474$88,042
Salary rangeBetween $84,000 And $142,000Between $53,000 And $144,000
Highest paying CityCupertino, CASanta Rosa, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaRhode Island
Best paying companyBoston Consulting GroupGoogle
Best paying industryManufacturing-

Differences between software project leader and team lead/manager education

There are a few differences between a software project leader and a team lead/manager in terms of educational background:

Software Project LeaderTeam Lead/Manager
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 71%Bachelor's Degree, 56%
Most common majorComputer ScienceBusiness
Most common collegeMassachusetts Institute of TechnologySUNY College of Technology at Delhi

Software project leader vs team lead/manager demographics

Here are the differences between software project leaders' and team lead/managers' demographics:

Software Project LeaderTeam Lead/Manager
Average age3943
Gender ratioMale, 75.1% Female, 24.9%Male, 55.8% Female, 44.2%
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, 9.0% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 17.2% Asian, 7.3% White, 61.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage8%9%

Differences between software project leader and team lead/manager 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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Team lead/manager example responsibilities.

  • Motivate the team to achieve high standards and KPI targets.
  • Manage all aspects of training support, including instructional design, eLearning development, and the administration of training systems.
  • Design and develop UNIX scripts to manage processing and archiving of daily orders, processing of credit card authorizations and billing.
  • Demonstrate style of leadership that combine discipline with compassion to achieve outstanding results and unmistakable team morale on battlefield.
  • Manage an embed Facebook executive protection team that provide security and logistical support for a corporate executive and his family.
  • Analyze denials by Medicare and Medicaid to determine if an appeal is needed.
  • Show more

Software project leader vs team lead/manager skills

Common software project leader skills
  • Software Development, 15%
  • Project Management, 9%
  • Scrum, 8%
  • C, 6%
  • C++, 6%
  • Java, 6%
Common team lead/manager skills
  • Excellent Interpersonal, 21%
  • Customer Service, 14%
  • Cleanliness, 11%
  • Inventory Management, 8%
  • Product Knowledge, 5%
  • Leadership, 4%

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