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The differences between lead piping designers 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 piping designer and a chief engineer. Additionally, a lead piping designer has an average salary of $111,648, which is higher than the $108,050 average annual salary of a chief engineer.
The top three skills for a lead piping designer include autocad, equipment layout and p id. The most important skills for a chief engineer are HVAC, plumbing, and customer service.
| Lead Piping Designer | Chief Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $111,648 | $108,050 |
| Hourly rate | $53.68 | $51.95 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 49,802 | 88,473 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 50% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A lead piping designer is primarily in charge of designing and drafting plans and layouts for developing and constructing pipe systems for water, gas, oil, petroleum, or sewage. Their job entails conducting extensive research and assessments, gathering and analyzing data, utilizing tools and software, coordinating with experts, and creating models for approval. Additionally, as a lead designer, it is essential to coordinate and lead junior designers in a joint effort to complete project goals while adhering to safety standards, policies, and regulations.
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 piping designers and chief engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Lead Piping Designer | Chief Engineer | |
| Average salary | $111,648 | $108,050 |
| Salary range | Between $78,000 And $158,000 | Between $65,000 And $177,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Palo Alto, CA |
| Highest paying state | - | California |
| Best paying company | - | BGC Partners |
| Best paying industry | - | Transportation |
There are a few differences between a lead piping designer and a chief engineer in terms of educational background:
| Lead Piping Designer | Chief Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 50% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Most common major | Drafting And Design | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Carnegie Mellon University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between lead piping designers' and chief engineers' demographics:
| Lead Piping Designer | Chief Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 93.6% Female, 6.4% | Male, 96.2% Female, 3.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.3% Asian, 10.3% White, 72.3% 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% |