Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between electrical research engineers and electrical engineers lead can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both an electrical research engineer and an electrical engineer lead. Additionally, an electrical engineer lead has an average salary of $111,251, which is higher than the $85,767 average annual salary of an electrical research engineer.
The top three skills for an electrical research engineer include C++, electrical systems and MATLAB. The most important skills for an electrical engineer lead are electrical engineering, autocad, and engineering design.
| Electrical Research Engineer | Electrical Engineer Lead | |
| Yearly salary | $85,767 | $111,251 |
| Hourly rate | $41.23 | $53.49 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 76,225 | 82,196 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
The electrical research engineers are responsible for conducting research, designing and developing new and innovative electrical products or systems, and evaluate them to improve existing technical processes. They have strong analytical and critical thinking skills and professional competency to perform intensive research and collaborate on standards for procedures, and design testing methods to identify problems and solutions. Being an electrical research engineer is essential to a company since the job involves innovation and development processes.
An electrical engineer lead is an engineering professional who works with clients and internal engineers to establish project requirements and work on multiple electrical projects. Electrical engineer leads provide the cost estimation of electrical projects and prepare budget proposals as well as assign personnel with the capabilities required to complete the assigned tasks. They are required to review the calculation methods to ensure that they comply with all regulatory and project requirements. Electrical engineer leads must also accurately check the electrical design calculations for electrical loads, short circuit, and voltage drop using standard electrical engineering software.
Electrical research engineers and electrical engineers lead have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Electrical Research Engineer | Electrical Engineer Lead | |
| Average salary | $85,767 | $111,251 |
| Salary range | Between $65,000 And $112,000 | Between $83,000 And $148,000 |
| Highest paying City | Redmond, WA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Washington |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | |
| Best paying industry | Utilities | Construction |
There are a few differences between an electrical research engineer and an electrical engineer lead in terms of educational background:
| Electrical Research Engineer | Electrical Engineer Lead | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Michigan Technological University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between electrical research engineers' and electrical engineers lead' demographics:
| Electrical Research Engineer | Electrical Engineer Lead | |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 88.8% Female, 11.2% | Male, 93.2% Female, 6.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.6% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 10.5% Asian, 21.4% White, 58.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 4.8% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.2% Asian, 14.4% White, 64.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |