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The differences between lead application engineers and chief engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a lead application engineer and a chief engineer. Additionally, a lead application engineer has an average salary of $111,059, which is higher than the $108,050 average annual salary of a chief engineer.
The top three skills for a lead application engineer include java, C++ and infrastructure. The most important skills for a chief engineer are HVAC, plumbing, and customer service.
| Lead Application Engineer | Chief Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $111,059 | $108,050 |
| Hourly rate | $53.39 | $51.95 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 186,619 | 88,473 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
An Application Engineers is responsible for monitoring and ensuring that all the application and software of a client is functioning well. They are the one who develops new engineering software and hardware that leads to innovation and technology. This person has practical communication skills since they need to interact with clients to determine the scope of the project and create a reasonable solution. An Application Engineer possesses skills in a wide range of technical concerns regarding software hardware. Typically, they can be seen different departments like manufacturing, marketing as well as customer services.
A chief engineer is responsible for monitoring the engineering department's overall operations, ensuring performance efficiency, and everyone's strict compliance with the safety standards and regulatory procedures. Chief engineers manage the distribution of the tasks to the team, communicate with the clients and management for instructions and specifications, monitor expenses and forecast sales reports, analyze and approve designs, negotiate contracts, and process disputes. A chief engineer must have excellent knowledge of the engineering disciplines and exemplary leadership skills to handle the team's performance towards the company's objectives.
Lead application engineers and chief engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Lead Application Engineer | Chief Engineer | |
| Average salary | $111,059 | $108,050 |
| Salary range | Between $85,000 And $144,000 | Between $65,000 And $177,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Palo Alto, CA |
| Highest paying state | Virginia | California |
| Best paying company | Lyft | BGC Partners |
| Best paying industry | Retail | Transportation |
There are a few differences between a lead application engineer and a chief engineer in terms of educational background:
| Lead Application Engineer | Chief Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between lead application engineers' and chief engineers' demographics:
| Lead Application Engineer | Chief Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 87.8% Female, 12.2% | Male, 96.2% Female, 3.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 16.5% White, 68.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 3.5% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.9% Asian, 10.2% White, 71.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |