Contract mechanical designer vs project engineer

The differences between contract mechanical designers and project 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 contract mechanical designer and a project engineer. Additionally, a project engineer has an average salary of $75,050, which is higher than the $69,294 average annual salary of a contract mechanical designer.

The top three skills for a contract mechanical designer include R, BOM and auto cad. The most important skills for a project engineer are project management, autocad, and construction management.

Contract mechanical designer vs project engineer overview

	Contract Mechanical Designer	Project Engineer
Yearly salary	$69,294	$75,050
Hourly rate	$33.31	$36.08
Growth rate	2%	2%
Number of jobs	72,152	176,689
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 49%	Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Average age	41	41
Years of experience	6	6

Contract mechanical designer vs project engineer salary

Contract mechanical designers and project engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Contract Mechanical Designer	Project Engineer
Average salary	$69,294	$75,050
Salary range	Between $52,000 And $91,000	Between $55,000 And $100,000
Highest paying City	-	Richmond, CA
Highest paying state	-	Washington
Best paying company	-	Apple
Best paying industry	-	Energy

Differences between contract mechanical designer and project engineer education

There are a few differences between a contract mechanical designer and a project engineer in terms of educational background:

	Contract Mechanical Designer	Project Engineer
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 49%	Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Most common major	Drafting And Design	Mechanical Engineering
Most common college	Carnegie Mellon University	Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Contract mechanical designer vs project engineer demographics

Here are the differences between contract mechanical designers' and project engineers' demographics:

	Contract Mechanical Designer	Project Engineer
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 92.6% Female, 7.4%	Male, 87.1% Female, 12.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.5% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 10.2% White, 71.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%	Black or African American, 3.3% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 14.5% White, 68.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage	5%	5%

Differences between contract mechanical designer and project engineer duties and responsibilities

Contract mechanical designer example responsibilities.

Work with JPL / NASA packaging and fabrication engineering leads (on-site).
Correspond with various vendors to select proper HVAC equipment.
Develop detail drawings, mechanize animations, bill of materials, ECO, and ECR's.
Generate ECO to update part specification in accordance with manufacturing requirements.
Create designs and documentation to facilitate manufacture of products including drawings, BOM and material specifications.
Design and automate electro-mechanical machinery to customer specifications.

Project engineer example responsibilities.

Manage TCP/IP LAN environment for the time during implementation.
Support and manage the development of a CNC base electron beam drill.
Lead a MGPP six sigma project to improve the accuracy of 3D clutch cooling analysis
Manage the BHP enterprise wide migration from e-rooms to SharePoint for document management and team collaboration.
Manage the installation of a CNC laser cutting system with full responsibility for all aspects of the project.
Coordinate and manage activities of the 787-9 IPT's to complete the specific aircraft side of the test cells.

Contract mechanical designer vs project engineer skills

Common contract mechanical designer skills

R, 9%
BOM, 8%
Auto CAD, 7%
Mechanical Design, 6%
Layout Drawings, 6%
Product Development, 5%

Common project engineer skills

Project Management, 12%
Autocad, 7%
Construction Management, 6%
CAD, 4%
UL, 4%
Cost Estimates, 3%

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Contract Mechanical Designer
Contract Mechanical Designer vs Project Engineer

Updated January 8, 2025

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