Director, hardware engineering vs product engineering manager

The differences between directors, hardware engineering and product 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 product engineering manager. Additionally, a director, hardware engineering has an average salary of $182,954, which is higher than the $125,592 average annual salary of a product engineering manager.

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

Director, hardware engineering vs product engineering manager overview

	Director, Hardware Engineering	Product Engineering Manager
Yearly salary	$182,954	$125,592
Hourly rate	$87.96	$60.38
Growth rate	2%	2%
Number of jobs	63,781	148,619
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 70%
Average age	48	48
Years of experience	-	-

Director, hardware engineering vs product engineering manager salary

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

	Director, Hardware Engineering	Product Engineering Manager
Average salary	$182,954	$125,592
Salary range	Between $128,000 And $260,000	Between $90,000 And $174,000
Highest paying City	Boston, MA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Alaska	California
Best paying company	NVIDIA	Airbnb
Best paying industry	Start-up	Technology

Differences between director, hardware engineering and product engineering manager education

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

	Director, Hardware Engineering	Product Engineering Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 70%
Most common major	Electrical Engineering	Mechanical Engineering
Most common college	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Director, hardware engineering vs product engineering manager demographics

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

	Director, Hardware Engineering	Product Engineering Manager
Average age	48	48
Gender ratio	Male, 92.9% Female, 7.1%	Male, 91.7% Female, 8.3%
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, 2.9% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 8.3% Asian, 14.8% White, 69.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between director, hardware engineering and product 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.

Product engineering manager example responsibilities.

Design, build and manage the ParagusIT OpenStack base private cloud.
Lead global engineering team in pursuit of major European OEM's medium and heavy-duty axle business.
Manage and coordinate communication with SME teams during disasters.
Manage outsourced/contract vendors and suppliers including HVAC, elevators, electrical and mechanical systems.
Manage a group of engineers that design semi-custom commercial / industrial HVAC and refrigeration equipment.
Participate and lead multiple Kaizen events, including facility layout, productivity, system integration and setup reductions.

Director, hardware engineering vs product 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 product engineering manager skills

Project Management, 7%
Product Management, 7%
Product Engineering, 7%
Product Line, 5%
Java, 5%
Continuous Improvement, 5%

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Director, Hardware Engineering
Director, Hardware Engineering vs Product Engineering Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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