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The differences between design supervisors and mechanical 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 design supervisor and a mechanical design engineer. Additionally, a design supervisor has an average salary of $78,150, which is higher than the $75,821 average annual salary of a mechanical design engineer.
The top three skills for a design supervisor include autocad, engineering drawings and engineering design. The most important skills for a mechanical design engineer are CAD, mechanical design, and GD.
| Design Supervisor | Mechanical Design Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $78,150 | $75,821 |
| Hourly rate | $37.57 | $36.45 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 37,558 | 120,258 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A design supervisor oversees the daily operations of an organization's design team, ensuring projects are completed within deadlines, budgets, and client requirements. They are primarily responsible for understanding project specifications, establishing budgets and guidelines, coordinating with managers, delegating responsibilities, and conducting regular assessments and evaluations to ensure operations run smoothly and efficiently according to industry standards and regulations. They may also communicate directly with clients to provide them with updates, present reports to the director, and liaise with external parties such as suppliers and distributors.
A mechanical design engineer specializes in designing various mechanical devices that will be vital in developing machinery or large structures. One of their primary responsibilities revolves around conducting thorough research and analysis, establishing layouts and prototypes, producing progress reports, and working alongside fellow engineers and skilled professionals. Typically assigned in an office setting, a mechanical design engineer must visit construction sites or factories to test and observe equipment qualities. Furthermore, during production, there are instances when a mechanical engineer must coordinate with suppliers, contractors, and clients.
Design supervisors and mechanical design engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Design Supervisor | Mechanical Design Engineer | |
| Average salary | $78,150 | $75,821 |
| Salary range | Between $48,000 And $127,000 | Between $59,000 And $96,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Jose, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Micron Technology | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Automotive |
There are a few differences between a design supervisor and a mechanical design engineer in terms of educational background:
| Design Supervisor | Mechanical Design Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Most common major | Drafting And Design | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Carnegie Mellon University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between design supervisors' and mechanical design engineers' demographics:
| Design Supervisor | Mechanical Design Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 77.0% Female, 23.0% | Male, 91.9% Female, 8.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.2% Asian, 10.4% White, 72.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 8.2% Asian, 16.4% White, 67.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |