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Technical writer lead vs lead developer

The differences between technical writer leads and lead developers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a technical writer lead, becoming a lead developer takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a lead developer has an average salary of $116,340, which is higher than the $66,624 average annual salary of a technical writer lead.

The top three skills for a technical writer lead include technical documentation, subject matter experts and maintenance procedures. The most important skills for a lead developer are java, javascript, and architecture.

Technical writer lead vs lead developer overview

Technical Writer LeadLead Developer
Yearly salary$66,624$116,340
Hourly rate$32.03$55.93
Growth rate6%21%
Number of jobs75,697274,208
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 71%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Average age4639
Years of experience24

Technical writer lead vs lead developer salary

Technical writer leads and lead developers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Technical Writer LeadLead Developer
Average salary$66,624$116,340
Salary rangeBetween $52,000 And $85,000Between $83,000 And $161,000
Highest paying City-San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state-California
Best paying company-Mayo Clinic
Best paying industry-Retail

Differences between technical writer lead and lead developer education

There are a few differences between a technical writer lead and a lead developer in terms of educational background:

Technical Writer LeadLead Developer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 71%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Most common majorEnglishComputer Science
Most common collegeUniversity of HoustonMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Technical writer lead vs lead developer demographics

Here are the differences between technical writer leads' and lead developers' demographics:

Technical Writer LeadLead Developer
Average age4639
Gender ratioMale, 53.5% Female, 46.5%Male, 76.4% Female, 23.6%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.6% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 8.7% White, 71.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%Black or African American, 4.5% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.2% Asian, 29.9% White, 52.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage11%8%

Differences between technical writer lead and lead developer duties and responsibilities

Technical writer lead example responsibilities.

  • Coordinate meetings, write and edit documentation, maintain SharePoint database, manage high-visibility special projects in a fast-pace environment.
  • Design graphics and illustrations for product documentation and training materials (CorelDraw and Visio).
  • Model include XML, HTML, and style sheet templates, guidelines, and training sessions.
  • Collaborate with SMEs to understand technical specifications.
  • Design an HTML instructional help system for a secure-encryption network product.
  • Process documents though the BCCR process for FDA regulations and legal requirements.
  • Show more

Lead developer example responsibilities.

  • Develop UNIX shell scripts to automate the process of running jobs/batches for scheduling and process the feeds.
  • Consult on the database schema, create business environments, write stored procedures in PL/SQL, authore reports and manage security.
  • Configure and manage JGroup multicasting communication for apache tomcat web servers.
  • Develop an UI tool for inbound and outbound file monitoring tool using HTML, CSS, JavaScript etc.
  • Used HTML5 create forms and tables to display client's personal information which is fetched from back-end by using AJAX.
  • Object orient design and implementation with agile application development using scrum.
  • Show more

Technical writer lead vs lead developer skills

Common technical writer lead skills
  • Technical Documentation, 8%
  • Subject Matter Experts, 7%
  • Maintenance Procedures, 6%
  • Status Reports, 6%
  • Engineering Drawings, 5%
  • User Guides, 4%
Common lead developer skills
  • Java, 10%
  • JavaScript, 5%
  • Architecture, 5%
  • C++, 4%
  • Web Application, 4%
  • GIT, 4%

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