Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between lead hardware engineers and contracting engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a lead hardware engineer, becoming a contracting engineer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a contracting engineer has an average salary of $122,620, which is higher than the $121,252 average annual salary of a lead hardware engineer.
The top three skills for a lead hardware engineer include RF, system design and FPGA. The most important skills for a contracting engineer are C++, C #, and R.
| Lead Hardware Engineer | Contracting Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $121,252 | $122,620 |
| Hourly rate | $58.29 | $58.95 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 39,713 | 115,631 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 71% |
| Average age | 44 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 6 |
A lead hardware engineer partners with the mechanical engineering team and product team to design and define brand new hardware products. They lead the development of connectors, firmware protocols, cards, electric chargers, controllers, and chips. Besides supervising electrical and hardware engineers, lead hardware engineers also work hand-in-hand with business analysts, software engineers, and project managers. Other duties performed by lead hardware engineers include component sourcing and performing technical specification and technical requirements analysis. Also, they provide solutions for complicated material handling and paper challenges.
A contracting engineer specializes in overseeing engineering projects, focusing on the legalities of contracts between clients and engineers to ensure fairness in all parties involved. Most of their duties are administrative, such as gathering and analyzing data, conducting research and analyses, setting budgets and guidelines, drafting commercial tenders and other paperwork, maintaining records, and executing contracts. They are also responsible for handling contract issues and concerns, solving them promptly and efficiently. Additionally, a contracting engineer maintains an open communication line with all parties to ensure a smooth workflow.
Lead hardware engineers and contracting engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Lead Hardware Engineer | Contracting Engineer | |
| Average salary | $121,252 | $122,620 |
| Salary range | Between $89,000 And $163,000 | Between $86,000 And $173,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | Washington | New York |
| Best paying company | Meta | EquiLend |
| Best paying industry | Start-up | Professional |
There are a few differences between a lead hardware engineer and a contracting engineer in terms of educational background:
| Lead Hardware Engineer | Contracting Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 71% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northeastern University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between lead hardware engineers' and contracting engineers' demographics:
| Lead Hardware Engineer | Contracting Engineer | |
| Average age | 44 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 92.8% Female, 7.2% | Male, 88.2% Female, 11.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 7.6% Unknown, 2.9% Hispanic or Latino, 9.7% Asian, 29.5% White, 49.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 3.5% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.6% Asian, 11.8% White, 70.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 5% |