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Control Systems Engineer Vs Staff Design Engineer

The differences between control systems engineers and staff 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 control systems engineer and a staff design engineer. Additionally, a staff design engineer has an average salary of $128,071, which is higher than the $92,727 average annual salary of a control systems engineer.

The top three skills for a control systems engineer include PLC, HMI and C++. The most important skills for a staff design engineer are architecture, RF, and CAD.

Control systems engineer vs staff design engineer overview

Control Systems EngineerStaff Design Engineer
Yearly Salary$92,727$128,071
Hourly rate$44.58$61.57
Growth Rate3%3%
Number Of Jobs133,220154,963
Job Satisfaction--
Most Common DegreeBachelor's Degree, 74%Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Average Age4545
Years Of Experience66

What does a Control Systems Engineer do?

Control systems engineers are interdisciplinary engineers managing the company's control systems. They are expected to be familiar with different engineering disciplines such as mechanical, industrial, and computer science, among others. They are responsible for designing systems based on the company's requirements. Control systems engineers must conduct feasibility studies to ensure that the company's requirements can be met. They are also responsible for developing the systems, creating prototypes, and testing. They test whether the control systems produce desired results. After testing, control systems engineers implement the system and conduct routine maintenance checks.

What does a staff design engineer do?

Staff design engineers are tasked to assess the efficiency of instruments, technologies, and equipment by collaborating with the engineering team to plan, design, and develop technologies efficiently. Their responsibilities include building and setting up, as wells as improving systems and procedures. They should possess strong attention to detail, good visual and spatial awareness, creativity, problem-solving, excellent verbal, written, and project management skills, and strong mathematical and IT skills to become efficient and effective staff design engineers.

Control systems engineer vs staff design engineer salary

Control systems engineers and staff design engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Control Systems EngineerStaff Design Engineer
Average Salary$92,727$128,071
Salary RangeBetween $72,000 And $118,000Between $89,000 And $182,000
Highest Paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest Paying StateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best Paying CompanyAppleHBO
Best Paying IndustryAutomotiveTechnology

Differences between control systems engineer and staff design engineer education

There are a few differences between a control systems engineer and a staff design engineer in terms of educational background:

Control Systems EngineerStaff Design Engineer
Most Common DegreeBachelor's Degree, 74%Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Most Common MajorElectrical EngineeringElectrical Engineering
Most Common CollegeGeorgia Institute of TechnologyNortheastern University

Control systems engineer vs staff design engineer demographics

Here are the differences between control systems engineers' and staff design engineers' demographics:

Control Systems EngineerStaff Design Engineer
Average Age4545
Gender RatioMale, 90.5% Female, 9.5%Male, 75.7% Female, 24.3%
Race RatioBlack or African American, 5.0% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.6% Asian, 15.4% White, 63.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 4.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.7% Asian, 23.8% White, 57.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage6%6%

Differences between control systems engineer and staff design engineer duties and responsibilities

Control Systems Engineer Example Responsibilities.

  • Lead the development of smarter controls utilizing DeviceNet and Profibus architecture.
  • Establish communication links and prepare machines for bench-testing to attain UL certification.
  • Research NFPA, ISA, NEC, OSHA, specs and standards.
  • Install Allen-Bradley PLCS, interface to DCS.
  • Set up Ethernet communications from K-tron feeders back to DCS.
  • Assist commissioning team of gas analyzers for ISO compliance of equipment.
  • Show More

Staff Design Engineer Example Responsibilities.

  • Manage aspects of commercial architecture projects, develop solutions to problems that arise during construction.
  • Manage complex resolution of provisioning issues and develop practices and procedures for circuit installation and maintenance.
  • Design parts and Verilog libraries for PCB system level integration.
  • Design ASIC base control electronics for an army smart sub-munition (SADARM).
  • Re-Implement porting and connecting script for design auto generation from scratch using Perl.
  • Design of VSWR protection circuit for CMOS power amplifiers integrate in WLAN product lines.
  • Show More

Control systems engineer vs staff design engineer skills

Common Control Systems Engineer Skills
  • PLC, 9%
  • HMI, 8%
  • C++, 7%
  • MATLAB, 6%
  • Simulink, 5%
  • Troubleshoot, 4%
Common Staff Design Engineer Skills
  • Architecture, 6%
  • RF, 6%
  • CAD, 5%
  • Synthesis, 5%
  • Analog, 5%
  • SOC, 4%

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