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The differences between chief engineers and senior field service 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 senior field service engineer. Additionally, a chief engineer has an average salary of $108,050, which is higher than the $87,414 average annual salary of a senior field service engineer.
The top three skills for a chief engineer include HVAC, plumbing and customer service. The most important skills for a senior field service engineer are customer service, customer satisfaction, and preventive maintenance.
| Chief Engineer | Senior Field Service Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $108,050 | $87,414 |
| Hourly rate | $51.95 | $42.03 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 88,473 | 111,380 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 49% | Associate Degree, 43% |
| 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.
Senior Field Service Engineers are responsible for the installation, repair, and maintenance of equipment. Their duties include installing equipment that complies with technical specifications, coordinating preventative maintenance, calibrating tools, test equipment, manage the contract tendering process, and conduct field modifications. They also assist in the ordering of repair parts as well as organizing service records and customer logs. Senior Filed Service Engineers works to ensure that work deliverable adheres to all regulatory requirements and health and safety protocols.
Chief engineers and senior field service engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Chief Engineer | Senior Field Service Engineer | |
| Average salary | $108,050 | $87,414 |
| Salary range | Between $65,000 And $177,000 | Between $66,000 And $115,000 |
| Highest paying City | Palo Alto, CA | South San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | BGC Partners | Canon |
| Best paying industry | Transportation | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a chief engineer and a senior field service engineer in terms of educational background:
| Chief Engineer | Senior Field Service Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 49% | Associate Degree, 43% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Michigan Technological University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between chief engineers' and senior field service engineers' demographics:
| Chief Engineer | Senior Field Service Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 96.2% Female, 3.8% | Male, 96.8% Female, 3.2% |
| 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, 3.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.3% Asian, 10.3% White, 72.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |