Director, hardware engineering vs mechanical engineering manager

The differences between directors, hardware engineering and mechanical engineering 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 mechanical engineering manager. Additionally, a director, hardware engineering has an average salary of $182,954, which is higher than the $116,922 average annual salary of a mechanical engineering manager.

The top three skills for a director, hardware engineering include RF, product development and hardware development. The most important skills for a mechanical engineering manager are CAD, mechanical design, and solidworks.

Director, hardware engineering vs mechanical engineering manager overview

	Director, Hardware Engineering	Mechanical Engineering Manager
Yearly salary	$182,954	$116,922
Hourly rate	$87.96	$56.21
Growth rate	2%	2%
Number of jobs	63,781	74,789
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Average age	48	48
Years of experience	-	-

Director, hardware engineering vs mechanical engineering manager salary

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

	Director, Hardware Engineering	Mechanical Engineering Manager
Average salary	$182,954	$116,922
Salary range	Between $128,000 And $260,000	Between $82,000 And $165,000
Highest paying City	Boston, MA	Mountain View, CA
Highest paying state	Alaska	California
Best paying company	NVIDIA	Meta
Best paying industry	Start-up	Manufacturing

Differences between director, hardware engineering and mechanical engineering manager education

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

	Director, Hardware Engineering	Mechanical Engineering Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Most common major	Electrical Engineering	Mechanical Engineering
Most common college	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Director, hardware engineering vs mechanical engineering manager demographics

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

	Director, Hardware Engineering	Mechanical Engineering Manager
Average age	48	48
Gender ratio	Male, 92.9% Female, 7.1%	Male, 94.6% Female, 5.4%
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, 3.0% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 8.5% Asian, 12.9% White, 70.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between director, hardware engineering and mechanical engineering 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.

Mechanical engineering manager example responsibilities.

Coordinate and manage prototype development and validation testing.
Manage QA for research orient development efforts and for high visibility, production focuse development efforts tie to revenue generation.
Work with the in-house UL and compliance engineers, ESD engineers, and the shock/vibration engineers.
Design various hand-held and permanently mount RF instruments for use in RF broadcast and transmission installations.
Engineer and/or design and/or value engineer (redesign) new and/or existing HVAC systems for commercial and/or industrial applications.
Select HVAC equipment such as boilers, chillers, cooling towers, air handling units and roof top units.

Director, hardware engineering vs mechanical engineering manager skills

Common director, hardware engineering skills

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

Common mechanical engineering manager skills

CAD, 9%
Mechanical Design, 8%
Solidworks, 7%
Project Management, 6%
Continuous Improvement, 6%
Mechanical Systems, 4%

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Director, Hardware Engineering
Director, Hardware Engineering vs Mechanical Engineering Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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