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Support lead vs senior support specialist

The differences between support leads and senior support specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a support lead and a senior support specialist. Additionally, a senior support specialist has an average salary of $106,515, which is higher than the $86,816 average annual salary of a support lead.

The top three skills for a support lead include customer service, cash management and POS. The most important skills for a senior support specialist are customer service, technical support, and troubleshoot.

Support lead vs senior support specialist overview

Support LeadSenior Support Specialist
Yearly salary$86,816$106,515
Hourly rate$41.74$51.21
Growth rate10%10%
Number of jobs98,872103,203
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 58%Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Average age4242
Years of experience22

What does a support lead do?

A support lead is typically in charge of overseeing the performance of a technical support team, ensuring efficiency and customer satisfaction. Their responsibilities revolve around assessing the performance of the workforce, resolving complex issues, identifying customer needs and sales opportunities, and training new team members. They may also perform calls and correspondence, respond to inquiries, and resolve issues promptly. Furthermore, as a support lead, it is essential to perform clerical tasks such as preparing progress reports, managing schedules, and maintaining records of transactions.

What does a senior support specialist do?

A senior support specialist is in charge of providing technical support to clients, ensuring efficiency and client satisfaction. They typically communicate with clients through calls or correspondence where they address issues and concerns, resolving them promptly and efficiently. They may also assist clients in troubleshooting, provide step by step instructions, or recommend solutions. Furthermore, as a senior support specialist, it is essential to lead and serve as a role model for other support specialists while enforcing the company's policies and regulations.

Support lead vs senior support specialist salary

Support leads and senior support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

Support LeadSenior Support Specialist
Average salary$86,816$106,515
Salary rangeBetween $63,000 And $118,000Between $71,000 And $159,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CAPiscataway, NJ
Highest paying stateCaliforniaNew Jersey
Best paying companyAppleEclaro
Best paying industry-Manufacturing

Differences between support lead and senior support specialist education

There are a few differences between a support lead and a senior support specialist in terms of educational background:

Support LeadSenior Support Specialist
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 58%Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeStanford UniversityStanford University

Support lead vs senior support specialist demographics

Here are the differences between support leads' and senior support specialists' demographics:

Support LeadSenior Support Specialist
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 52.3% Female, 47.7%Male, 61.2% Female, 38.8%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 10.5% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.1% Asian, 14.6% White, 54.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%Black or African American, 11.8% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.0% Asian, 10.8% White, 55.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage11%11%

Differences between support lead and senior support specialist duties and responsibilities

Support lead example responsibilities.

  • Manage chemical and gas specifications, ensuring they are in line with ISO requirements.
  • Lead a team of services professionals to provide store operations and point-of-sale (POS) hardware and software solutions.
  • Develop and manage a unify desktop/notebook PC image.
  • Manage ticket queues and prioritize escalations base on establish SLA's and resource availability.
  • Manage data mapping from legacy CRM systems, including creating data mapping documentation in preparation for migration to Salesforce.com.
  • Develop and maintain UNIX / Linux shell scripts to ensure smooth system operations and to facilitate critical reporting to security teams.
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Senior support specialist example responsibilities.

  • Manage UNIX OS technical documentation and marketing materials.
  • Maintain desktop encryption keys for all company laptops.
  • Implement desktop and laptop encryption applications in NY area offices.
  • Oversee the backing up of company data and creation of PC images for each type of machine.
  • Perform moves, adds, and changes of PC equipment such as desktops, laptops, monitors.
  • Perform DB2 data loads on a UNIX platform, verify and update test data, utilizing execution of SQL queries.
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Support lead vs senior support specialist skills

Common support lead skills
  • Customer Service, 12%
  • Cash Management, 12%
  • POS, 7%
  • Sales Floor, 7%
  • Payroll, 5%
  • Infrastructure, 5%
Common senior support specialist skills
  • Customer Service, 18%
  • Technical Support, 8%
  • Troubleshoot, 7%
  • Phone Calls, 5%
  • Data Entry, 5%
  • Computer System, 3%

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