Mechanical engineering manager vs engineering director

The differences between mechanical engineering managers and engineering directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes More than 10 years to become both a mechanical engineering manager and an engineering director. Additionally, an engineering director has an average salary of $162,252, which is higher than the $116,922 average annual salary of a mechanical engineering manager.

The top three skills for a mechanical engineering manager include CAD, mechanical design and solidworks. The most important skills for an engineering director are java, architecture, and infrastructure.

Mechanical engineering manager vs engineering director overview

	Mechanical Engineering Manager	Engineering Director
Yearly salary	$116,922	$162,252
Hourly rate	$56.21	$78.01
Growth rate	2%	2%
Number of jobs	74,789	63,868
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 74%	Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Average age	48	48
Years of experience	-	-

What does a mechanical engineering manager do?

A mechanical engineering manager is responsible for leading the mechanical projects and processes of an organization to ensure high-quality deliverables according to business requirements and specifications. Mechanical engineering managers inspect the tools and equipment and coordinate with trusted suppliers for low-cost reduction materials and control installations. They also resolve mechanical issues and determine the best management techniques to prevent downtimes and operational delays. A mechanical engineering manager must have excellent communication and critical-thinking skills, especially in analyzing blueprints and schematics to secure components.

What does an engineering director do?

An engineering director or director of engineering is an individual who manages a team of engineering managers and coordinates all the engineering activities within the organization. Engineering directors work closely with the organization's executives to develop new strategies to reduce unnecessary costs and time to complete their projects. They must understand and interpret complex sets of data such as profits, losses, or value of liabilities to identify problems and come up with solutions. Engineering directors must also ensure that safety protocols are implemented in the workforce.

Mechanical engineering manager vs engineering director salary

Mechanical engineering managers and engineering directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Mechanical Engineering Manager	Engineering Director
Average salary	$116,922	$162,252
Salary range	Between $82,000 And $165,000	Between $109,000 And $239,000
Highest paying City	Mountain View, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Meta	Brookfield Properties
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Technology

Differences between mechanical engineering manager and engineering director education

There are a few differences between a mechanical engineering manager and an engineering director in terms of educational background:

	Mechanical Engineering Manager	Engineering Director
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 74%	Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Most common major	Mechanical Engineering	Electrical Engineering
Most common college	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Mechanical engineering manager vs engineering director demographics

Here are the differences between mechanical engineering managers' and engineering directors' demographics:

	Mechanical Engineering Manager	Engineering Director
Average age	48	48
Gender ratio	Male, 94.6% Female, 5.4%	Male, 94.6% Female, 5.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 8.5% Asian, 12.9% White, 70.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 9.1% Asian, 13.1% White, 69.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between mechanical engineering manager and engineering director duties and responsibilities

Mechanical engineering manager example responsibilities.

Coordinate and manage prototype development and validation testing.
Manage QA for research orient development efforts and for high visibility, production focuse development efforts tie to revenue generation.
Work with the in-house UL and compliance engineers, ESD engineers, and the shock/vibration engineers.
Design various hand-held and permanently mount RF instruments for use in RF broadcast and transmission installations.
Engineer and/or design and/or value engineer (redesign) new and/or existing HVAC systems for commercial and/or industrial applications.
Select HVAC equipment such as boilers, chillers, cooling towers, air handling units and roof top units.

Engineering director example responsibilities.

Monitor and manage performance base on multiple KPI's.
Manage all FCC filings for the registration of license frequencies.
Improve network reliability and manage signal leakage and FCC compliance.
Lead implementation and remediation efforts to ensure HIPPA, SOX, and PCI compliance.
Manage a team to develop and support SaaS base access control product for health care industry.
Manage release and deployments for multiple, concurrent Java project across varying release cycles from inception to delivery.

Mechanical engineering manager vs engineering director skills

Common mechanical engineering manager skills

CAD, 9%
Mechanical Design, 8%
Solidworks, 7%
Project Management, 6%
Continuous Improvement, 6%
Mechanical Systems, 4%

Common engineering director skills

Java, 7%
Architecture, 7%
Infrastructure, 6%
AWS, 5%
Project Management, 5%
Customer Service, 4%

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Mechanical Engineering Manager
Mechanical Engineering Manager vs Engineering Director

Updated January 8, 2025

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