Director, hardware engineering vs project engineering manager

The differences between directors, hardware engineering and project 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 project engineering manager. Additionally, a director, hardware engineering has an average salary of $182,954, which is higher than the $110,534 average annual salary of a project engineering manager.

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

Director, hardware engineering vs project engineering manager overview

	Director, Hardware Engineering	Project Engineering Manager
Yearly salary	$182,954	$110,534
Hourly rate	$87.96	$53.14
Growth rate	2%	2%
Number of jobs	63,781	171,897
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Average age	48	48
Years of experience	-	-

Director, hardware engineering vs project engineering manager salary

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

	Director, Hardware Engineering	Project Engineering Manager
Average salary	$182,954	$110,534
Salary range	Between $128,000 And $260,000	Between $79,000 And $153,000
Highest paying City	Boston, MA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Alaska	California
Best paying company	NVIDIA	Apple
Best paying industry	Start-up	Technology

Differences between director, hardware engineering and project engineering manager education

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

	Director, Hardware Engineering	Project Engineering Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Most common major	Electrical Engineering	Mechanical Engineering
Most common college	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Director, hardware engineering vs project engineering manager demographics

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

	Director, Hardware Engineering	Project Engineering Manager
Average age	48	48
Gender ratio	Male, 92.9% Female, 7.1%	Male, 87.8% Female, 12.2%
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, 9.0% Asian, 12.0% White, 71.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between director, hardware engineering and project 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.

Project engineering manager example responsibilities.

Interview, hire and manage engineering and cad teams to accomplish all projects acquire with quality and on-time delivery.
Manage APQP tasks and submit documentation to customer.
Lead an engineering team that develop a vision technology product resulting in winning multiple DOD awards.
Manage UL, FCC and ANSI testing of new products and product production with contract manufacturers.
Establish SharePoint site to manage all records to ensure facility is built codes and standards if audit by regulators.
Manage desktop, server and network teams' projects, and fill in as Unix support for tape backup management.

Director, hardware engineering vs project 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 project engineering manager skills

Project Management, 22%
Project Scope, 6%
Engineering Design, 4%
Autocad, 4%
Capital Projects, 4%
Project Execution, 3%

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Director, Hardware Engineering
Director, Hardware Engineering vs Project Engineering Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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