Contract mechanical engineer vs senior mechanical engineer

The differences between contract mechanical engineers and senior mechanical 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 engineer and a senior mechanical engineer. Additionally, a senior mechanical engineer has an average salary of $103,836, which is higher than the $84,269 average annual salary of a contract mechanical engineer.

The top three skills for a contract mechanical engineer include solidworks, assembly drawings and autocad. The most important skills for a senior mechanical engineer are mechanical engineering, CAD, and solidworks.

Contract mechanical engineer vs senior mechanical engineer overview

	Contract Mechanical Engineer	Senior Mechanical Engineer
Yearly salary	$84,269	$103,836
Hourly rate	$40.51	$49.92
Growth rate	2%	2%
Number of jobs	84,503	98,063
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 81%	Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Average age	41	41
Years of experience	6	6

Contract mechanical engineer vs senior mechanical engineer salary

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

	Contract Mechanical Engineer	Senior Mechanical Engineer
Average salary	$84,269	$103,836
Salary range	Between $64,000 And $110,000	Between $79,000 And $136,000
Highest paying City	-	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	-	Washington
Best paying company	-	Google
Best paying industry	-	Energy

Differences between contract mechanical engineer and senior mechanical engineer education

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

	Contract Mechanical Engineer	Senior Mechanical Engineer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 81%	Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Most common major	Mechanical Engineering	Mechanical Engineering
Most common college	Michigan Technological University	Michigan Technological University

Contract mechanical engineer vs senior mechanical engineer demographics

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

	Contract Mechanical Engineer	Senior Mechanical Engineer
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 91.5% Female, 8.5%	Male, 94.2% Female, 5.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.3% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.0% Asian, 13.9% White, 69.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%	Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 8.3% Asian, 15.8% White, 68.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage	5%	5%

Differences between contract mechanical engineer and senior mechanical engineer duties and responsibilities

Contract mechanical engineer example responsibilities.

Provide mechanical design and sustaining engineering expertise to troubleshoot manufacturing defect trends and achieve a more robust and producible product.
Document as built drawing ECN's, ECO's, & ECR's into archive files.
Utilize SolidWorks and FEA analysis, and classical analysis to develop products.
Design of plastic injection & sheet metal components, perform FEA's and other design relate functions.
Upload files into PDM and EPDM.
Used SolidWorks PDM to save files.

Senior mechanical engineer example responsibilities.

Create DFMEA documents to help manage risks and improve initial quality.
Set up and manage PCB manufacturing including all chemical baths, lasers, and exposure equipment.
Restructure VHDL code and chip/module hierarchy to achieve timing goals for the dual cache controller and the chip.
Achieve timely convergence of complex designs by building RTL models from validation area and integrating them, before official model release.
Lead FPGA development of key digital communication component used in successful demonstration of spacecraft radio link.
Provide mechanical design and sustaining engineering expertise to troubleshoot manufacturing defect trends and achieve a more robust and producible product.

Contract mechanical engineer vs senior mechanical engineer skills

Common contract mechanical engineer skills

Solidworks, 16%
Assembly Drawings, 6%
Autocad, 6%
Prototype, 4%
FEA, 4%
R, 4%

Common senior mechanical engineer skills

Mechanical Engineering, 15%
CAD, 7%
Solidworks, 7%
Mechanical Design, 5%
Mechanical Systems, 5%
HVAC, 4%

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Contract Mechanical Engineer
Contract Mechanical Engineer vs Senior Mechanical Engineer

Updated January 8, 2025

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