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The differences between contracting engineers and product 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 contracting engineer and a product engineer. Additionally, a contracting engineer has an average salary of $122,620, which is higher than the $89,645 average annual salary of a product engineer.
The top three skills for a contracting engineer include C++, C # and R. The most important skills for a product engineer are CAD, product design, and project management.
| Contracting Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $122,620 | $89,645 |
| Hourly rate | $58.95 | $43.10 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 115,631 | 157,888 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A contracting engineer specializes in overseeing engineering projects, focusing on the legalities of contracts between clients and engineers to ensure fairness in all parties involved. Most of their duties are administrative, such as gathering and analyzing data, conducting research and analyses, setting budgets and guidelines, drafting commercial tenders and other paperwork, maintaining records, and executing contracts. They are also responsible for handling contract issues and concerns, solving them promptly and efficiently. Additionally, a contracting engineer maintains an open communication line with all parties to ensure a smooth workflow.
A product engineer specializes in designing and developing commercial materials and services. They are primarily responsible for conducting thorough research and analysis of the latest trends and marketing conditions to come up with new ideas and products for the public. Moreover, they are also responsible for producing reports and presentations, coordinating with the development team of their company. Product engineers also reach out to vendors and suppliers for the raw materials, set regulations and standards for the product, and even conduct a rigorous and regular quality check.
Contracting engineers and product engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Contracting Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Average salary | $122,620 | $89,645 |
| Salary range | Between $86,000 And $173,000 | Between $68,000 And $118,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New York | California |
| Best paying company | EquiLend | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Technology |
There are a few differences between a contracting engineer and a product engineer in terms of educational background:
| Contracting Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Michigan Technological University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between contracting engineers' and product engineers' demographics:
| Contracting Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 88.2% Female, 11.8% | Male, 87.8% Female, 12.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.5% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.6% Asian, 11.8% White, 70.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 17.0% White, 67.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |