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The differences between chief engineers and lead 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 chief engineer and a lead engineer. Additionally, a chief engineer has an average salary of $108,050, which is higher than the $84,927 average annual salary of a lead engineer.
The top three skills for a chief engineer include HVAC, plumbing and customer service. The most important skills for a lead engineer are java, python, and architecture.
| Chief Engineer | Lead Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $108,050 | $84,927 |
| Hourly rate | $51.95 | $40.83 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 88,473 | 301,777 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 49% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A chief engineer is responsible for monitoring the engineering department's overall operations, ensuring performance efficiency, and everyone's strict compliance with the safety standards and regulatory procedures. Chief engineers manage the distribution of the tasks to the team, communicate with the clients and management for instructions and specifications, monitor expenses and forecast sales reports, analyze and approve designs, negotiate contracts, and process disputes. A chief engineer must have excellent knowledge of the engineering disciplines and exemplary leadership skills to handle the team's performance towards the company's objectives.
A lead engineer's duties vary on their line of work or industry of employment. Typically, their responsibilities will revolve around overseeing the progress of operations and performance of the workforce, ensuring that everything is running smoothly. They are also responsible for addressing issues and concerns, assessing risks, monitoring the budget, coordinating with clients and architects, and even training workers. Furthermore, as a lead engineer, it is crucial to conduct regular inspections to ensure the quality of work and maintain a safe environment for all workers.
Chief engineers and lead engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Chief Engineer | Lead Engineer | |
| Average salary | $108,050 | $84,927 |
| Salary range | Between $65,000 And $177,000 | Between $60,000 And $120,000 |
| Highest paying City | Palo Alto, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | BGC Partners | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Transportation | Automotive |
There are a few differences between a chief engineer and a lead engineer in terms of educational background:
| Chief Engineer | Lead Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 49% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Michigan Technological University | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between chief engineers' and lead engineers' demographics:
| Chief Engineer | Lead Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 96.2% Female, 3.8% | Male, 90.8% Female, 9.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.5% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.9% Asian, 10.2% White, 71.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 16.8% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |