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The differences between technical managers and senior member technical staff can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a technical manager and a senior member technical staff. Additionally, a senior member technical staff has an average salary of $130,432, which is higher than the $116,619 average annual salary of a technical manager.
The top three skills for a technical manager include project management, infrastructure and architecture. The most important skills for a senior member technical staff are java, python, and cloud.
| Technical Manager | Senior Member Technical Staff | |
| Yearly salary | $116,619 | $130,432 |
| Hourly rate | $56.07 | $62.71 |
| Growth rate | 8% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 116,732 | 188,462 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Average age | 40 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A technical manager is responsible for maintaining the company's information systems database and analyzing technology system matters to ensure its efficiency and accuracy in supporting business operations. Technical managers perform network checks regularly to assess any possible malfunctions that might compromise the company's cybersecurity. They carefully analyze business and clients' specifications on working with systems integration, responding to end-users' concerns and inquiries. A technical manager must have excellent knowledge of the information technology systems industry, as well as a strong command on network codes to conduct adjustments and manage network infrastructure.
A Senior Member Technical Staff is a title synonymous with software engineering given by technology companies to reduce discrepancies from different overlapping job backgrounds. Companies use this title so that they can make employee remuneration and provision of staff benefits less complicated and efficient. Moreover, a Senior Member of Technical Staff can also apply in the circumstance of them possessing highly valued multi-disciplinary knowledge that cannot be subjected to a singular job category.
Technical managers and senior member technical staff have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Technical Manager | Senior Member Technical Staff | |
| Average salary | $116,619 | $130,432 |
| Salary range | Between $84,000 And $161,000 | Between $99,000 And $171,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | A.T. Kearney | Pure Storage |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Telecommunication |
There are a few differences between a technical manager and a senior member technical staff in terms of educational background:
| Technical Manager | Senior Member Technical Staff | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Most common major | Business | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Carnegie Mellon University | California State University - Long Beach |
Here are the differences between technical managers' and senior member technical staff' demographics:
| Technical Manager | Senior Member Technical Staff | |
| Average age | 40 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 83.7% Female, 16.3% | Male, 80.6% Female, 19.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.0% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 6.4% White, 65.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 8.0% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.7% Asian, 13.9% White, 61.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 14% | 9% |