Flight test supervisor vs flight test engineer

The differences between flight test supervisors and flight test engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a flight test supervisor and a flight test engineer. Additionally, a flight test engineer has an average salary of $90,538, which is higher than the $76,547 average annual salary of a flight test supervisor.

The top three skills for a flight test supervisor include safety procedures, FAA and flight operations. The most important skills for a flight test engineer are control room, data analysis, and test procedures.

Flight test supervisor vs flight test engineer overview

	Flight Test Supervisor	Flight Test Engineer
Yearly salary	$76,547	$90,538
Hourly rate	$36.80	$43.53
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	26,742	26,384
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 50%	Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Average age	49	44
Years of experience	4	4

Flight test supervisor vs flight test engineer salary

Flight test supervisors and flight test engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Flight Test Supervisor	Flight Test Engineer
Average salary	$76,547	$90,538
Salary range	Between $47,000 And $122,000	Between $66,000 And $123,000
Highest paying City	-	Palo Alto, CA
Highest paying state	-	Illinois
Best paying company	-	Amazon
Best paying industry	-	Transportation

Differences between flight test supervisor and flight test engineer education

There are a few differences between a flight test supervisor and a flight test engineer in terms of educational background:

	Flight Test Supervisor	Flight Test Engineer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 50%	Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Most common major	Business	Aerospace Engineering
Most common college	SUNY College of Technology at Alfred	Georgia Institute of Technology

Flight test supervisor vs flight test engineer demographics

Here are the differences between flight test supervisors' and flight test engineers' demographics:

	Flight Test Supervisor	Flight Test Engineer
Average age	49	44
Gender ratio	Male, 68.4% Female, 31.6%	Male, 89.6% Female, 10.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.3% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 15.9% Asian, 2.1% White, 67.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%	Black or African American, 4.2% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 11.4% Asian, 10.9% White, 68.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	4%	8%

Differences between flight test supervisor and flight test engineer duties and responsibilities

Flight test supervisor example responsibilities.

Manage intermediate-level maintenance on fighter aircraft release and gun systems.
Developed/Execute bilateral air component rear area security combat support policy, training directives, and programs target at reducing risks.
Develop annual and strategic corporate business plans that NASA headquarters approve for funding and implementation.

Flight test engineer example responsibilities.

Track and manage team budget, schedule, risks, change information, BOMs, labor and materials costs.
Manage Terraform and refactore from monolithic to application specific components.
Create complex flight test plans to meet DoD and FAA requirements.
Test facility engineer (TFE) responsible for design and development of test rigs, test stands, and fixtures.
Maintain a DOD secret security clearance.
Support both STC approval and design qualification.

Flight test supervisor vs flight test engineer skills

Common flight test supervisor skills

Safety Procedures, 22%
FAA, 19%
Flight Operations, 15%
Aircraft Maintenance, 13%
In-Flight, 12%
TSA, 5%

Common flight test engineer skills

Control Room, 7%
Data Analysis, 6%
Test Procedures, 6%
Avionics, 6%
DOD, 5%
Test Execution, 4%

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Flight Test Supervisor vs Flight Test Engineer

Updated January 8, 2025

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