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Development engineer vs tool engineer

The differences between development engineers and tool 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 development engineer and a tool engineer. Additionally, a tool engineer has an average salary of $101,135, which is higher than the $93,206 average annual salary of a development engineer.

The top three skills for a development engineer include java, python and software development. The most important skills for a tool engineer are python, java, and CAD.

Development engineer vs tool engineer overview

Development EngineerTool Engineer
Yearly salary$93,206$101,135
Hourly rate$44.81$48.62
Growth rate2%2%
Number of jobs224,88198,936
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 72%Bachelor's Degree, 59%
Average age4141
Years of experience66

What does a development engineer do?

A Development Engineer is responsible for the development and validation of products, systems, and components. They are also responsible for quality control of work and continuous improvement of engineer activities.

What does a tool engineer do?

A tooling engineer is responsible for creating and adjusting tools or parts for cars, heavy equipment, and other products that need customized or personalized components. Your duties and responsibilities will include creating design blueprints, using computer-aided (CAD) software to develop two- and three-dimensional prints, and validating and evaluating products. As a tooling engineer, it is your responsibility to ensure compliance with operational standards such as the ISO 9000. You also have to provide technical assistance to manufacturing personnel and quality assurance.

Development engineer vs tool engineer salary

Development engineers and tool engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Development EngineerTool Engineer
Average salary$93,206$101,135
Salary rangeBetween $70,000 And $122,000Between $75,000 And $135,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CANovato, CA
Highest paying stateWashingtonCalifornia
Best paying companyMetaMeta
Best paying industryTechnologyTechnology

Differences between development engineer and tool engineer education

There are a few differences between a development engineer and a tool engineer in terms of educational background:

Development EngineerTool Engineer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 72%Bachelor's Degree, 59%
Most common majorMechanical EngineeringMechanical Engineering
Most common collegeMichigan Technological UniversityMichigan Technological University

Development engineer vs tool engineer demographics

Here are the differences between development engineers' and tool engineers' demographics:

Development EngineerTool Engineer
Average age4141
Gender ratioMale, 85.5% Female, 14.5%Male, 95.3% Female, 4.7%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 16.7% White, 67.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%Black or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.5% Asian, 10.3% White, 72.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage5%5%

Differences between development engineer and tool engineer duties and responsibilities

Development engineer example responsibilities.

  • Used RS.exe from command line to automate report execution, export to PDF and archive to FTP site.
  • Manage Terraform and refactore from monolithic to application specific components.
  • Develop python code on Linux kernel (raspberry pi) for battery monitoring system.
  • Migrate an existing J2EE application to MVC framework.
  • Develop LINUX device driver for new real-time clock chip support.
  • Help in modifying shell scripts to convert from IBM AIX to Linux.
  • Show more

Tool engineer example responsibilities.

  • Manage mold vendors in the refurbishment of existing tooling and new mold construction.
  • Lead cross-functional teams that develop several emerging technology laser and CCD barcode scanner products.
  • Lead several independent, cross-functional projects and improve manufacturing quality, reduce cost, ensure environment are supported and FDA compliant.
  • Create Perl scripts and SQL store procedures for nightly batch job streams, data loads and corporate reporting.
  • Perform product design functions using AutoCad.
  • Create custom SQL's in db2 and oracle for the reports.
  • Show more

Development engineer vs tool engineer skills

Common development engineer skills
  • Java, 17%
  • Python, 9%
  • Software Development, 5%
  • JavaScript, 5%
  • Lifecycle Management, 4%
  • UI, 3%
Common tool engineer skills
  • Python, 16%
  • Java, 8%
  • CAD, 6%
  • Linux, 6%
  • Jenkins, 5%
  • Ruby, 4%

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