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The differences between support leads and technical support engineers 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 technical support engineer. Additionally, a support lead has an average salary of $86,816, which is higher than the $85,716 average annual salary of a technical support engineer.
The top three skills for a support lead include customer service, cash management and POS. The most important skills for a technical support engineer are technical support, customer service, and troubleshoot.
| Support Lead | Technical Support Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $86,816 | $85,716 |
| Hourly rate | $41.74 | $41.21 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 98,872 | 184,542 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 58% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
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.
A technical support engineer is responsible for responding to customer issues, providing immediate resolutions to their system issues through remote assistance. Technical support engineers must have strong knowledge of software and hardware applications to diagnose system defects and process troubleshooting. They also assist customers with the installation of programs and updates to improve system performance, escalating high-level concerns to appropriate internal technology teams. A technical support engineer must have strong command with technical systems, as well as excellent communication and time-management skills to understand clients' issues while documenting procedures.
Support leads and technical support engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Support Lead | Technical Support Engineer | |
| Average salary | $86,816 | $85,716 |
| Salary range | Between $63,000 And $118,000 | Between $61,000 And $119,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Washington |
| Best paying company | Apple | Meta |
| Best paying industry | - | Technology |
There are a few differences between a support lead and a technical support engineer in terms of educational background:
| Support Lead | Technical Support Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 58% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Most common major | Business | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between support leads' and technical support engineers' demographics:
| Support Lead | Technical Support Engineer | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 52.3% Female, 47.7% | Male, 83.3% Female, 16.7% |
| Race ratio | Black 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, 9.8% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.1% Asian, 15.0% White, 54.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |