Circuit design engineer vs senior design engineer

The differences between circuit design engineers 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 a circuit design engineer and a senior design engineer. Additionally, a circuit design engineer has an average salary of $107,694, which is higher than the $104,698 average annual salary of a senior design engineer.

The top three skills for a circuit design engineer include circuit design, CMOS and RF. The most important skills for a senior design engineer are CAD, project management, and RF.

Circuit design engineer vs senior design engineer overview

	Circuit Design Engineer	Senior Design Engineer
Yearly salary	$107,694	$104,698
Hourly rate	$51.78	$50.34
Growth rate	3%	2%
Number of jobs	70,906	127,035
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Average age	45	41
Years of experience	6	6

What does a circuit design engineer do?

A circuit design engineer specializes in designing and developing electrical components and circuits in devices and machinery. Among their responsibilities include identifying the needs of every project, developing strategies to attain optimal quality, developing diagrams and test structures, troubleshooting, and repairing issues. They must also perform regular maintenance checks on existing systems and perform upgrades and corrective measures as needed. Moreover, a circuit design engineer typically works in a team setting, which requires an active communication line for a smooth and efficient workflow.

What does a senior design engineer do?

A senior design engineer is responsible for creating mechanical and electrical designs for machines and systems, following clients' specifications and business guidelines. Senior design engineers also assist junior design engineers with their tasks, sharing best practices and techniques, and suggesting adjustments as needed. They also oversee the manufacturing process, inspect possible inconsistencies, and revise plans without exceeding the agreed budget or compromising the quality. A senior design engineer must be keen with details and highly organizational, especially on meeting deadlines with the highest client satisfaction.

Circuit design engineer vs senior design engineer salary

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

	Circuit Design Engineer	Senior Design Engineer
Average salary	$107,694	$104,698
Salary range	Between $84,000 And $137,000	Between $80,000 And $136,000
Highest paying City	Federal Way, WA	Cupertino, CA
Highest paying state	Rhode Island	California
Best paying company	Apple	Google
Best paying industry	Technology	Technology

Differences between circuit design engineer and senior design engineer education

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

	Circuit Design Engineer	Senior Design Engineer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Most common major	Electrical Engineering	Mechanical Engineering
Most common college	Northeastern University	Michigan Technological University

Circuit design engineer vs senior design engineer demographics

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

	Circuit Design Engineer	Senior Design Engineer
Average age	45	41
Gender ratio	Male, 74.4% Female, 25.6%	Male, 91.8% Female, 8.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.6% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 10.5% Asian, 19.9% White, 60.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	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 Percentage	6%	5%

Differences between circuit design engineer and senior design engineer duties and responsibilities

Circuit design engineer example responsibilities.

Lead cross-site LVR task force to get full set of schematics match to functional target RTL model.
Process orders for VPN long distance service and manage the VPN dial plan to ensure no duplications.
Manage client order request generate from sales, provisioning and designing data, voice and IP network services.
Size transistors to reduce RC time constant in dynamic flip-flops and to achieve equivalent performance in high frequency.
Lead a small design team to deliver a 90 nm LP 125 MHz medium-size Gigabit Ethernet PHY DSP.
Manage a team that include hardware engineers, software engineers, and verifications engineers to evaluate the McORE 200 microprocessor.

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.

Circuit design engineer vs senior design engineer skills

Common circuit design engineer skills

Circuit Design, 14%
CMOS, 6%
RF, 6%
Verilog, 5%
CAD, 4%
FPGA, 4%

Common senior design engineer skills

CAD, 7%
Project Management, 4%
RF, 4%
Autocad, 4%
Solidworks, 3%
C++, 3%

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Circuit Design Engineer vs Senior Design Engineer

Updated January 8, 2025

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