Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between lead engineers and project lead engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a lead engineer, becoming a project lead engineer takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a project lead engineer has an average salary of $106,946, which is higher than the $84,927 average annual salary of a lead engineer.
The top three skills for a lead engineer include java, python and architecture. The most important skills for a project lead engineer are project management, renewable energy, and project execution.
| Lead Engineer | Project Lead Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $84,927 | $106,946 |
| Hourly rate | $40.83 | $51.42 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 301,777 | 98,018 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Average age | 41 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 4 |
A lead engineer's duties vary on their line of work or industry of employment. Typically, their responsibilities will revolve around overseeing the progress of operations and performance of the workforce, ensuring that everything is running smoothly. They are also responsible for addressing issues and concerns, assessing risks, monitoring the budget, coordinating with clients and architects, and even training workers. Furthermore, as a lead engineer, it is crucial to conduct regular inspections to ensure the quality of work and maintain a safe environment for all workers.
Project lead engineers are engineering professionals who are responsible for leading other professionals in completing a particular project. These engineers must develop a project management framework to be implemented throughout the organization based on the inputs from internal stakeholders and team members. They are required to train junior team members so that they can provide proper technical support functions. Project lead engineers must also prepare and review cost estimates for a variety of projects during bidding, construction, and post-construction phases.
Lead engineers and project lead engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Lead Engineer | Project Lead Engineer | |
| Average salary | $84,927 | $106,946 |
| Salary range | Between $60,000 And $120,000 | Between $78,000 And $146,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Cupertino, CA |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Automotive | Automotive |
There are a few differences between a lead engineer and a project lead engineer in terms of educational background:
| Lead Engineer | Project Lead Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between lead engineers' and project lead engineers' demographics:
| Lead Engineer | Project Lead Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 90.8% Female, 9.2% | Male, 86.8% Female, 13.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 16.8% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.4% Asian, 15.2% White, 66.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 4% |