Director, hardware engineering vs design manager

The differences between directors, hardware engineering and design managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes More than 10 years to become both a director, hardware engineering and a design manager. Additionally, a director, hardware engineering has an average salary of $182,954, which is higher than the $102,637 average annual salary of a design manager.

The top three skills for a director, hardware engineering include RF, product development and hardware development. The most important skills for a design manager are sketch, project management, and visualization.

Director, hardware engineering vs design manager overview

	Director, Hardware Engineering	Design Manager
Yearly salary	$182,954	$102,637
Hourly rate	$87.96	$49.34
Growth rate	2%	2%
Number of jobs	63,781	61,273
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Average age	48	48
Years of experience	-	-

Director, hardware engineering vs design manager salary

Directors, hardware engineering and design managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Director, Hardware Engineering	Design Manager
Average salary	$182,954	$102,637
Salary range	Between $128,000 And $260,000	Between $69,000 And $150,000
Highest paying City	Boston, MA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Alaska	California
Best paying company	NVIDIA	Meta
Best paying industry	Start-up	Technology

Differences between director, hardware engineering and design manager education

There are a few differences between a director, hardware engineering and a design manager in terms of educational background:

	Director, Hardware Engineering	Design Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Most common major	Electrical Engineering	Graphic Design
Most common college	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Director, hardware engineering vs design manager demographics

Here are the differences between directors, hardware engineering' and design managers' demographics:

	Director, Hardware Engineering	Design Manager
Average age	48	48
Gender ratio	Male, 92.9% Female, 7.1%	Male, 63.8% Female, 36.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 2.8% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.7% Asian, 17.9% White, 66.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 11.8% White, 71.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between director, hardware engineering and design manager duties and responsibilities

Director, hardware engineering example responsibilities.

Lead contract purchasing, PCB fabrication, contract board assembly, and ICT test fixture fabrication.
Select and manage contract resources for industrial design, mechanical design and fabrication, and PCB layout.
Manage design, tooling, equipment implementations and process improvements for foundry/machining metalworking manufacturer of automotive OEM products.
Hire to build world-class hardware development team including RF engineers.
Train subordinates to use FEA.
Involve in the design of a chip tray which incorporates RF antennas.

Design manager example responsibilities.

Help achieve status of medical device manufacturer through the FDA.
Manage several consultants preparing contract documents on the various NYC let and NYS let projects.
Manage and collaborate with ASIC library/memory vendors.
Manage design, tooling, equipment implementations and process improvements for foundry/machining metalworking manufacturer of automotive OEM products.
Design blueprints, bills of materials, FEA as required.
Include producing FDA and ISO-9000 level documentation of the project.

Director, hardware engineering vs design manager skills

Common director, hardware engineering skills

RF, 9%
Product Development, 8%
Hardware Development, 7%
Firmware, 6%
Mechanical Engineering, 5%
Hardware Products, 5%

Common design manager skills

Sketch, 8%
Project Management, 8%
Visualization, 5%
User Experience, 4%
PowerPoint, 4%
Design Process, 4%

Director, Hardware Engineering vs. similar jobs

Director, Hardware Engineering related careers

Director, Hardware Engineering related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Executive Management Industry
Director, Hardware Engineering
Director, Hardware Engineering vs Design Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse executive management jobs