Automotive designer vs project engineer

The differences between automotive designers and project engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both an automotive designer and a project engineer. Additionally, a project engineer has an average salary of $75,050, which is higher than the $69,782 average annual salary of an automotive designer.

The top three skills for an automotive designer include industrial design, sketch and powertrain. The most important skills for a project engineer are project management, autocad, and construction management.

Automotive designer vs project engineer overview

	Automotive Designer	Project Engineer
Yearly salary	$69,782	$75,050
Hourly rate	$33.55	$36.08
Growth rate	2%	2%
Number of jobs	76,806	176,689
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 53%	Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Average age	41	41
Years of experience	6	6

Automotive designer vs project engineer salary

Automotive designers and project engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Automotive Designer	Project Engineer
Average salary	$69,782	$75,050
Salary range	Between $44,000 And $108,000	Between $55,000 And $100,000
Highest paying City	Belmont, CA	Richmond, CA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Washington
Best paying company	Meta	Apple
Best paying industry	Automotive	Energy

Differences between automotive designer and project engineer education

There are a few differences between an automotive designer and a project engineer in terms of educational background:

	Automotive Designer	Project Engineer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 53%	Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Most common major	Mechanical Engineering	Mechanical Engineering
Most common college	Northwestern University	Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Automotive designer vs project engineer demographics

Here are the differences between automotive designers' and project engineers' demographics:

	Automotive Designer	Project Engineer
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 80.2% Female, 19.8%	Male, 87.1% Female, 12.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.5% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 11.0% White, 70.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%	Black or African American, 3.3% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 14.5% White, 68.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage	5%	5%

Differences between automotive designer and project engineer duties and responsibilities

Automotive designer example responsibilities.

Manage documentation of existing projects, perform ECN resolutions.
Design of brackets and torsion bar components are validated using FEA inSolidworks.
Designate as group training mentor during transition from CADAM to Unigraphics V9.
Complete several fully fillet and draft angle solid models on Unigraphics for direct manufacturing.
Perform mechanical engineering design for facilities including calculate building HVAC requirements to ensure adequate capacity of system air flow.
Release drawings and BOMs in PDM/Link Windchill.

Project engineer example responsibilities.

Manage TCP/IP LAN environment for the time during implementation.
Support and manage the development of a CNC base electron beam drill.
Lead a MGPP six sigma project to improve the accuracy of 3D clutch cooling analysis
Manage the BHP enterprise wide migration from e-rooms to SharePoint for document management and team collaboration.
Manage the installation of a CNC laser cutting system with full responsibility for all aspects of the project.
Coordinate and manage activities of the 787-9 IPT's to complete the specific aircraft side of the test cells.

Automotive designer vs project engineer skills

Common automotive designer skills

Industrial Design, 24%
Sketch, 19%
Powertrain, 13%
FEA, 11%
Cost Reduction, 9%
Catia V5, 8%

Common project engineer skills

Project Management, 12%
Autocad, 7%
Construction Management, 6%
CAD, 4%
UL, 4%
Cost Estimates, 3%