Director, hardware engineering vs senior engineering manager

The differences between directors, hardware engineering and senior 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 senior engineering manager. Additionally, a director, hardware engineering has an average salary of $182,954, which is higher than the $155,753 average annual salary of a senior engineering manager.

The top three skills for a director, hardware engineering include RF, product development and hardware development. The most important skills for a senior engineering manager are java, architecture, and cloud.

Director, hardware engineering vs senior engineering manager overview

	Director, Hardware Engineering	Senior Engineering Manager
Yearly salary	$182,954	$155,753
Hourly rate	$87.96	$74.88
Growth rate	2%	2%
Number of jobs	63,781	70,918
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Average age	48	48
Years of experience	-	-

Director, hardware engineering vs senior engineering manager salary

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

	Director, Hardware Engineering	Senior Engineering Manager
Average salary	$182,954	$155,753
Salary range	Between $128,000 And $260,000	Between $110,000 And $218,000
Highest paying City	Boston, MA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Alaska	Alaska
Best paying company	NVIDIA	Airbnb
Best paying industry	Start-up	Telecommunication

Differences between director, hardware engineering and senior engineering manager education

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

	Director, Hardware Engineering	Senior Engineering Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Most common major	Electrical Engineering	Electrical Engineering
Most common college	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Director, hardware engineering vs senior engineering manager demographics

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

	Director, Hardware Engineering	Senior Engineering Manager
Average age	48	48
Gender ratio	Male, 92.9% Female, 7.1%	Male, 89.9% Female, 10.1%
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, 8.2% Asian, 17.6% White, 66.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between director, hardware engineering and senior 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.

Senior engineering manager example responsibilities.

Lead PCB design activities for achieving signal integrity and EMC/EMI compliances.
Manage and lead technical NPI cross-functional team, focal contact and liaison for manufacturing supply chain.
Direct and manage all FEA & CFD activities including hardware and software system activities.
Promote lead engineer to manage new internal SDLC, cutting bug-fix time from weeks to days.
Manage all aspects of geotechnical engineering projects from proposal preparation to review of invoices and collection of fees.
Develop quotes and proposals, track budgets and headcount needs, and manage outsourcing of high-volume PCB or tester builds.

Director, hardware engineering vs senior 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 senior engineering manager skills

Java, 11%
Architecture, 8%
Cloud, 7%
Infrastructure, 7%
Software Development, 5%
Project Management, 5%

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Director, Hardware Engineering
Director, Hardware Engineering vs Senior Engineering Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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