Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between lead application engineers and product 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 product engineer. Additionally, a lead application engineer has an average salary of $111,059, which is higher than the $89,645 average annual salary of a product engineer.
The top three skills for a lead application engineer include java, C++ and infrastructure. The most important skills for a product engineer are CAD, product design, and project management.
| Lead Application Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $111,059 | $89,645 |
| Hourly rate | $53.39 | $43.10 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 186,619 | 157,888 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| 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 product engineer specializes in designing and developing commercial materials and services. They are primarily responsible for conducting thorough research and analysis of the latest trends and marketing conditions to come up with new ideas and products for the public. Moreover, they are also responsible for producing reports and presentations, coordinating with the development team of their company. Product engineers also reach out to vendors and suppliers for the raw materials, set regulations and standards for the product, and even conduct a rigorous and regular quality check.
Lead application engineers and product engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Lead Application Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Average salary | $111,059 | $89,645 |
| Salary range | Between $85,000 And $144,000 | Between $68,000 And $118,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Virginia | California |
| Best paying company | Lyft | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Retail | Technology |
There are a few differences between a lead application engineer and a product engineer in terms of educational background:
| Lead Application Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between lead application engineers' and product engineers' demographics:
| Lead Application Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 87.8% Female, 12.2% | Male, 87.8% Female, 12.2% |
| 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, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 17.0% White, 67.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |