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The differences between design supervisors and senior 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 senior design engineer. Additionally, a senior design engineer has an average salary of $104,698, which is higher than the $78,150 average annual salary of a design supervisor.
The top three skills for a design supervisor include autocad, engineering drawings and engineering design. The most important skills for a senior design engineer are CAD, project management, and RF.
| Design Supervisor | Senior Design Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $78,150 | $104,698 |
| Hourly rate | $37.57 | $50.34 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 37,558 | 127,035 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| 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 senior design engineer is responsible for creating mechanical and electrical designs for machines and systems, following clients' specifications and business guidelines. Senior design engineers also assist junior design engineers with their tasks, sharing best practices and techniques, and suggesting adjustments as needed. They also oversee the manufacturing process, inspect possible inconsistencies, and revise plans without exceeding the agreed budget or compromising the quality. A senior design engineer must be keen with details and highly organizational, especially on meeting deadlines with the highest client satisfaction.
Design supervisors and senior design engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Design Supervisor | Senior Design Engineer | |
| Average salary | $78,150 | $104,698 |
| Salary range | Between $48,000 And $127,000 | Between $80,000 And $136,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Jose, CA | Cupertino, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Micron Technology | |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a design supervisor and a senior design engineer in terms of educational background:
| Design Supervisor | Senior Design Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| 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 senior design engineers' demographics:
| Design Supervisor | Senior Design Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 77.0% Female, 23.0% | Male, 91.8% Female, 8.2% |
| 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, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 17.1% White, 67.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |