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Automotive designer vs senior design engineer

The differences between automotive designers and senior design 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 senior design engineer. Additionally, a senior design engineer has an average salary of $104,698, 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 senior design engineer are CAD, project management, and RF.

Automotive designer vs senior design engineer overview

Automotive DesignerSenior Design Engineer
Yearly salary$69,782$104,698
Hourly rate$33.55$50.34
Growth rate2%2%
Number of jobs76,806127,035
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 53%Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Average age4141
Years of experience66

Automotive designer vs senior design engineer salary

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

Automotive DesignerSenior Design Engineer
Average salary$69,782$104,698
Salary rangeBetween $44,000 And $108,000Between $80,000 And $136,000
Highest paying CityBelmont, CACupertino, CA
Highest paying stateMassachusettsCalifornia
Best paying companyMetaGoogle
Best paying industryAutomotiveTechnology

Differences between automotive designer and senior design engineer education

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

Automotive DesignerSenior Design Engineer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 53%Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Most common majorMechanical EngineeringMechanical Engineering
Most common collegeNorthwestern UniversityMichigan Technological University

Automotive designer vs senior design engineer demographics

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

Automotive DesignerSenior Design Engineer
Average age4141
Gender ratioMale, 80.2% Female, 19.8%Male, 91.8% Female, 8.2%
Race ratioBlack 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, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 17.1% White, 67.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage5%5%

Differences between automotive designer and senior design 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.
  • Show more

Senior design engineer example responsibilities.

  • Create ENOVIA route template and manage routing to POC.
  • Manage the development of the next generation products base on existing refrigerants and CO2 system including prototyping and initial manufacturing run.
  • Install and support tools for mix signal EDA flow.
  • Validate suspension and chassis design using different real life test parameters in ANSYS.
  • Participate in the evaluation and performance testing of various third-party EDA software solutions.
  • Analyze product performance deficiencies by linking test data with effective use of MATLAB software.
  • Show more

Automotive designer vs senior design engineer skills

Common automotive designer skills
  • Industrial Design, 24%
  • Sketch, 19%
  • Powertrain, 13%
  • FEA, 11%
  • Cost Reduction, 9%
  • Catia V5, 8%
Common senior design engineer skills
  • CAD, 7%
  • Project Management, 4%
  • RF, 4%
  • Autocad, 4%
  • Solidworks, 3%
  • C++, 3%

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