Chief design engineer vs engineering director

The differences between chief design engineers and engineering directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a chief design engineer, becoming an engineering director takes usually requires More than 10 years. Additionally, an engineering director has an average salary of $162,252, which is higher than the $91,363 average annual salary of a chief design engineer.

The top three skills for a chief design engineer include product design, autocad and mechanical design. The most important skills for an engineering director are java, architecture, and infrastructure.

Chief design engineer vs engineering director overview

	Chief Design Engineer	Engineering Director
Yearly salary	$91,363	$162,252
Hourly rate	$43.92	$78.01
Growth rate	2%	2%
Number of jobs	96,075	63,868
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 70%	Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Average age	41	48
Years of experience	6	-

Chief design engineer vs engineering director salary

Chief design engineers and engineering directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Chief Design Engineer	Engineering Director
Average salary	$91,363	$162,252
Salary range	Between $60,000 And $137,000	Between $109,000 And $239,000
Highest paying City	Kirkland, WA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Nevada	California
Best paying company	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	Brookfield Properties
Best paying industry	Technology	Technology

Differences between chief design engineer and engineering director education

There are a few differences between a chief design engineer and an engineering director in terms of educational background:

	Chief Design Engineer	Engineering Director
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 70%	Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Most common major	Mechanical Engineering	Electrical Engineering
Most common college	Michigan Technological University	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Chief design engineer vs engineering director demographics

Here are the differences between chief design engineers' and engineering directors' demographics:

	Chief Design Engineer	Engineering Director
Average age	41	48
Gender ratio	Male, 96.6% Female, 3.4%	Male, 94.6% Female, 5.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.3% Asian, 13.5% White, 69.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%	Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 9.1% Asian, 13.1% White, 69.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	5%	9%

Differences between chief design engineer and engineering director duties and responsibilities

Chief design engineer example responsibilities.

Engineer, manage and implement configuration and installation of complex Ethernet network backbones.
Implement PLC connection for weighing systems and other serial port need to connect to other computerize control systems.
Deal with multiple agencies including UL, ETL/Intertek, NEC, TUV, and country specific testing agencies.
Work with a team of engineers to prepare architectural, mechanical, structural calculations, qualifying HVAC and steel designs.
Establish and monitor contractual obligations with OEM suppliers.
Implement engineering & management solutions and company policies necessary for attaining FAA production certification.

Engineering director example responsibilities.

Monitor and manage performance base on multiple KPI's.
Manage all FCC filings for the registration of license frequencies.
Improve network reliability and manage signal leakage and FCC compliance.
Lead implementation and remediation efforts to ensure HIPPA, SOX, and PCI compliance.
Manage a team to develop and support SaaS base access control product for health care industry.
Manage release and deployments for multiple, concurrent Java project across varying release cycles from inception to delivery.

Chief design engineer vs engineering director skills

Common chief design engineer skills

Product Design, 16%
Autocad, 15%
Mechanical Design, 10%
Design Engineering, 10%
ISO, 9%
Design Process, 7%

Common engineering director skills

Java, 7%
Architecture, 7%
Infrastructure, 6%
AWS, 5%
Project Management, 5%
Customer Service, 4%

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Chief Design Engineer vs Engineering Director

Updated January 8, 2025

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