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Team lead engineer vs consulting engineer

The differences between team lead engineers and consulting engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a team lead engineer and a consulting engineer. Additionally, a team lead engineer has an average salary of $114,867, which is higher than the $97,746 average annual salary of a consulting engineer.

The top three skills for a team lead engineer include python, architecture and java. The most important skills for a consulting engineer are java, C #, and linux.

Team lead engineer vs consulting engineer overview

Team Lead EngineerConsulting Engineer
Yearly salary$114,867$97,746
Hourly rate$55.22$46.99
Growth rate2%2%
Number of jobs235,155125,600
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 69%Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Average age4141
Years of experience66

What does a team lead engineer do?

A team leads engineer is in charge of spearheading and overseeing the efforts of an engineering team, ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. Although the duties may depend on one's industry of employment, it typically includes designing and developing systems according to project requirements, setting objectives and construction guidelines, delegating tasks, managing budgets and schedules, and monitoring the workflow, performing corrective measures as needed. Furthermore, as a team leads engineer, it is essential to encourage the workforce to reach goals, all while enforcing the company's safety standards and regulations.

What does a consulting engineer do?

A consulting engineer is an individual who aids in the planning, designing, and construction of a project from the public and private clients. Consulting engineers are required to advise on the best component suitable according to the needs of their clients. They can manage the project by coordinating with designers, architects, and relevant persons who have commissioned the project. They may incorporate green sustainable energy solutions based on the demands of their clients. Consulting engineers must also conduct a feasibility study and prepare the estimated cost for the project.

Team lead engineer vs consulting engineer salary

Team lead engineers and consulting engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Team Lead EngineerConsulting Engineer
Average salary$114,867$97,746
Salary rangeBetween $84,000 And $156,000Between $72,000 And $131,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaWashington
Best paying companyMetaApple
Best paying industryTechnologyTechnology

Differences between team lead engineer and consulting engineer education

There are a few differences between a team lead engineer and a consulting engineer in terms of educational background:

Team Lead EngineerConsulting Engineer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 69%Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Most common majorMechanical EngineeringMechanical Engineering
Most common collegeNorthwestern UniversityMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Team lead engineer vs consulting engineer demographics

Here are the differences between team lead engineers' and consulting engineers' demographics:

Team Lead EngineerConsulting Engineer
Average age4141
Gender ratioMale, 86.7% Female, 13.3%Male, 89.7% Female, 10.3%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 3.3% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.0% Asian, 14.5% White, 68.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%Black or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.1% Asian, 13.8% White, 69.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage5%5%

Differences between team lead engineer and consulting engineer duties and responsibilities

Team lead engineer example responsibilities.

  • Manage and develop the OS image for the flexible class Linux thin client devices.
  • Lead a team of 13 for a major multi-tenant scalability feature major changes to the SAN OS.
  • Manage software update process: vendor interaction, QA testing, web release, & authore documentation.
  • Manage subcontractor's installation of the HVAC systems to the successful completion of a fast pace project.
  • Lead the evaluating, testing and integration of new devices to enhance SAN switching, management, and storage provisioning.
  • Manage day-to-day QA tasks as dictated by project launch schedule and collaborate across work-streams to validate actual test results against expect results
  • Show more

Consulting engineer example responsibilities.

  • Manage Jenkins security by providing specific access to authorize developers/testers using project base matrix authorization strategy.
  • Implement a scanner in Perl to perform periodic data quality checks.
  • Plan for new install, migration with other equipments, or decommission networks and switches.
  • Design new mechanical concept for fixtures to interface existing and new products with existing customers PCB test boards.
  • Research and develop the new legal litigation support department that increase revenue from $100k/month to $300k/month.
  • Retain to improve poor systems performance in ClearCase development environment of Solaris, HP-UX, AIX and NT systems.
  • Show more

Team lead engineer vs consulting engineer skills

Common team lead engineer skills
  • Python, 15%
  • Architecture, 9%
  • Java, 9%
  • C++, 8%
  • Infrastructure, 8%
  • Windows, 7%
Common consulting engineer skills
  • Java, 10%
  • C #, 5%
  • Linux, 5%
  • Project Management, 5%
  • Azure, 4%
  • Troubleshoot, 4%

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