Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between management engineers and principal 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 management engineer and a principal engineer. Additionally, a principal engineer has an average salary of $130,213, which is higher than the $90,571 average annual salary of a management engineer.
The top three skills for a management engineer include infrastructure, java and linux. The most important skills for a principal engineer are java, architecture, and python.
| Management Engineer | Principal Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $90,571 | $130,213 |
| Hourly rate | $43.54 | $62.60 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 175,986 | 312,683 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A management engineer specializes in designing and developing systems to optimize business or establishment procedures. Their duties typically revolve around coordinating with various departments to obtain necessary data, conducting observations and inspections to determine the strengths and weaknesses of existing processes, executing maintenance checks to ensure the efficiency of services, and performing research and analysis to come up with the ideal solutions. Furthermore, as a management engineer, it is essential to adhere to the company's policies and regulations when making decisions or recommending new systems.
A principal engineer is responsible for monitoring the overall design phase of the construction process, including coordinating with the client for progress and updates, as well as performing adjustments as needed based on clients' specifications and requirements. Principal engineers also inspect the materials and resources used to ensure that the project stays within the budget goals and set timeframe. They should have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in preparing reports and training new staff.
Management engineers and principal engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Management Engineer | Principal Engineer | |
| Average salary | $90,571 | $130,213 |
| Salary range | Between $65,000 And $125,000 | Between $95,000 And $177,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Mateo, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Apple | Grubhub |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Telecommunication |
There are a few differences between a management engineer and a principal engineer in terms of educational background:
| Management Engineer | Principal Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between management engineers' and principal engineers' demographics:
| Management Engineer | Principal Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 81.2% Female, 18.8% | Male, 92.6% Female, 7.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.3% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.0% Asian, 14.9% White, 68.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 16.6% White, 67.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |