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The differences between customer engineers and senior controls 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 customer engineer and a senior controls engineer. Additionally, a senior controls engineer has an average salary of $107,298, which is higher than the $101,212 average annual salary of a customer engineer.
The top three skills for a customer engineer include customer service, technical problems and level agreements. The most important skills for a senior controls engineer are control systems, HMI, and C++.
| Customer Engineer | Senior Controls Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $101,212 | $107,298 |
| Hourly rate | $48.66 | $51.59 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 44,709 | 39,440 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A customer engineer provides technical support to organizations having issues with their products or services. Duties and responsibilities may vary depending on the sector, but generally include diagnosing and troubleshooting technical problems with products, performing tests, upgrades and diagnostics to prevent delay or downtime caused by-product issues, and keeping updated reports outlining the problems and measures taken to resolve them. A customer engineer is also responsible for discussing service contracts and their benefits with clients.
A senior controls engineer specializes in designing and developing control systems in various industries. Their responsibilities typically include identifying and understanding the company's needs, producing prototypes and test structures, gathering and analyzing data to identify areas needing improvement, implementing solutions in vulnerable areas, and providing technical support when necessary. Furthermore, as a senior controls engineer, it is essential to lead and serve as a mentor to junior engineers, all while enforcing the company's policies and regulations.
Customer engineers and senior controls engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Engineer | Senior Controls Engineer | |
| Average salary | $101,212 | $107,298 |
| Salary range | Between $77,000 And $131,000 | Between $82,000 And $138,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | California |
| Best paying company | Sagent Pharmaceuticals | |
| Best paying industry | Start-up | Automotive |
There are a few differences between a customer engineer and a senior controls engineer in terms of educational background:
| Customer Engineer | Senior Controls Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Stanford University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between customer engineers' and senior controls engineers' demographics:
| Customer Engineer | Senior Controls Engineer | |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 90.4% Female, 9.6% | Male, 84.6% Female, 15.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.8% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.1% Asian, 14.5% White, 64.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 4.7% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 10.9% Asian, 14.5% White, 64.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |