Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between business development engineers and application 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 business development engineer and an application engineer. Additionally, a business development engineer has an average salary of $105,267, which is higher than the $92,921 average annual salary of an application engineer.
The top three skills for a business development engineer include java, business development and project management. The most important skills for an application engineer are technical support, java, and C++.
| Business Development Engineer | Application Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $105,267 | $92,921 |
| Hourly rate | $50.61 | $44.67 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 136,516 | 111,338 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 78% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A business development engineer's role is to help companies build strong and positive relationships with clients and business partners. They conduct market research and analysis to find new business and client opportunities, plan and implement programs, and develop strategies for business and profit growth. They also produce proposals, streamline project requirements, perform risk assessments, study the competitor and consumers' behavior, and assist sales teams as necessary. Moreover, in some companies, there are instances when a business development engineer communicates directly with clients to close deals and negotiate contracts.
An application engineer is responsible for creating and re-designing system applications based on clients' specifications and sales demands. Application engineers run diagnostic tests on software programs, identify areas of improvement, install necessary updates, upgrade optimization, revise system codes, and provide technical support for customers' needs. They also generate ideas and locate other business opportunities by analyzing current trends in the technology market that would help build revenues and increase profitability for the company. An application engineer must have a strong command of programming languages, software application processes, and general technology disciplines.
Business development engineers and application engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Business Development Engineer | Application Engineer | |
| Average salary | $105,267 | $92,921 |
| Salary range | Between $75,000 And $146,000 | Between $69,000 And $125,000 |
| Highest paying City | Springfield, VA | Redwood City, CA |
| Highest paying state | Virginia | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | Morgan Lewis |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Technology |
There are a few differences between a business development engineer and an application engineer in terms of educational background:
| Business Development Engineer | Application Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 78% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Georgia Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between business development engineers' and application engineers' demographics:
| Business Development Engineer | Application Engineer | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 86.4% Female, 13.6% | Male, 87.4% Female, 12.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 1.4% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 6.7% Asian, 11.6% White, 73.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 1.4% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 6.7% Asian, 11.5% White, 74.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |