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Director of systems engineering vs engineering program manager

The differences between directors of systems engineering and engineering program 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 of systems engineering and an engineering program manager. Additionally, a director of systems engineering has an average salary of $165,127, which is higher than the $122,604 average annual salary of an engineering program manager.

The top three skills for a director of systems engineering include systems engineering, infrastructure and cloud. The most important skills for an engineering program manager are project management, program management, and software development.

Director of systems engineering vs engineering program manager overview

Director Of Systems EngineeringEngineering Program Manager
Yearly salary$165,127$122,604
Hourly rate$79.39$58.94
Growth rate2%2%
Number of jobs123,068148,543
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 69%Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Average age4848
Years of experience--

What does a director of systems engineering do?

A director of systems engineering oversees the systems engineering department in a company, ensuring everything runs smoothly and efficiently. Having more knowledge and experience in the field, they are in charge of setting goals and guidelines, managing budgets and timelines, conducting evaluations to ensure the efficiency of all systems and procedures, performing research and analysis to determine the strengths and weaknesses of existing systems, and implementing solutions against problem areas. Moreover, as director of systems engineering, they must lead and encourage the workforce to reach goals while enforcing and promoting the company's policies and regulations.

What does an engineering program manager do?

As an engineering program manager in the world of technology, it is their main responsibility to lead the development of important modules of new technology such as display, camera, touch ID, etc. It is their job to ensure that modules are correctly built according to specifications and given timeline. They drive day-to-day engineering related activities at the vendor's factory to meet overall program ideas. They are knowledgeable of the hardware process development and other features like display or camera design.

Director of systems engineering vs engineering program manager salary

Directors of systems engineering and engineering program managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Director Of Systems EngineeringEngineering Program Manager
Average salary$165,127$122,604
Salary rangeBetween $113,000 And $239,000Between $95,000 And $157,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best paying companyGoogleMeta
Best paying industryTechnologyTechnology

Differences between director of systems engineering and engineering program manager education

There are a few differences between a director of systems engineering and an engineering program manager in terms of educational background:

Director Of Systems EngineeringEngineering Program Manager
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 69%Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Most common majorElectrical EngineeringMechanical Engineering
Most common collegeUniversity of Michigan - Ann ArborUniversity of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Director of systems engineering vs engineering program manager demographics

Here are the differences between directors of systems engineering' and engineering program managers' demographics:

Director Of Systems EngineeringEngineering Program Manager
Average age4848
Gender ratioMale, 92.6% Female, 7.4%Male, 83.5% Female, 16.5%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 8.6% Asian, 13.4% White, 70.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 14.0% White, 69.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage9%9%

Differences between director of systems engineering and engineering program manager duties and responsibilities

Director of systems engineering example responsibilities.

  • Manage various development groups including Linux/UNIX systems administrators, DBA's, and network engineers.
  • Lead the division ISO-9000 certification effort as the ISO management representative and are certified as an ISO-9000 internal auditor.
  • Manage consolidation and transformation of processes to deliver infrastructure services through a streamline process that provide better integration with all platforms.
  • Extend the corporate and development environments into the AWS cloud.
  • Enhance some third party Java applets used in some pages.
  • Migrate the help desk ticketing system to a cloud base solution.
  • Show more

Engineering program manager example responsibilities.

  • Manage & assist component qualification through PPAP approval process.
  • Manage prototyping, optics, and tooling for Harley-Davidson aftermarket turn signal and brake lenses.
  • Manage several projects simultaneously, with excellent track record for ensuring team on-time IP delivery.
  • Manage committees and task forces ensuring synchronization of CNC training and skills need to promote successful CNC careers.
  • Work closely with PMO to understand product portfolio needs and manage internal and external resources to meet those goals.
  • Lead IPT meetings to provide status, address programmatic and customer concerns, assign priorities, assess risk and identifyopportunities.
  • Show more

Director of systems engineering vs engineering program manager skills

Common director of systems engineering skills
  • Systems Engineering, 12%
  • Infrastructure, 7%
  • Cloud, 5%
  • Project Management, 4%
  • C++, 3%
  • SAN, 3%
Common engineering program manager skills
  • Project Management, 15%
  • Program Management, 14%
  • Software Development, 6%
  • Scrum, 4%
  • Risk Management, 3%
  • Continuous Improvement, 3%

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