Network design engineer vs network manager

The differences between network design engineers and network managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a network design engineer and a network manager. Additionally, a network design engineer has an average salary of $101,135, which is higher than the $97,578 average annual salary of a network manager.

The top three skills for a network design engineer include network design, switches and juniper. The most important skills for a network manager are customer service, fault management, and network infrastructure.

Network design engineer vs network manager overview

	Network Design Engineer	Network Manager
Yearly salary	$101,135	$97,578
Hourly rate	$48.62	$46.91
Growth rate	5%	5%
Number of jobs	80,300	36,831
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 62%	Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Average age	43	43
Years of experience	2	2

Network design engineer vs network manager salary

Network design engineers and network managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Network Design Engineer	Network Manager
Average salary	$101,135	$97,578
Salary range	Between $76,000 And $132,000	Between $71,000 And $132,000
Highest paying City	Bothell, WA	Menlo Park, CA
Highest paying state	Washington	California
Best paying company	Google	Meta
Best paying industry	Technology	Technology

Differences between network design engineer and network manager education

There are a few differences between a network design engineer and a network manager in terms of educational background:

	Network Design Engineer	Network Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 62%	Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Most common major	Electrical Engineering	Business
Most common college	Northeastern University	Stanford University

Network design engineer vs network manager demographics

Here are the differences between network design engineers' and network managers' demographics:

	Network Design Engineer	Network Manager
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 85.5% Female, 14.5%	Male, 83.3% Female, 16.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 12.2% Asian, 12.3% White, 61.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	Black or African American, 9.0% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 8.7% White, 64.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between network design engineer and network manager duties and responsibilities

Network design engineer example responsibilities.

Manage efficient T1 utilization thresholds in order to balance customer demand and budget constraints.
Implement HSRP on different location of office on the switched network and managing the entire multilayer switch network.
Utilize advanced encryption devices to secure communications between all locations manage by the department.
Experience on designing and troubleshooting of complex BGP and OSPF routing problems.
Key contributions include troubleshooting of complex LAN /WAN connectivity issues that includes EIGRP.
Configure, install and troubleshoot CISCO base networks (routers, terminal servers).

Network manager example responsibilities.

Negotiate and manage customer SLA's.
Manage a remote nationwide team of database Sr.
Manage vendor for all PBX move add and changes.
Manage environment in support of define CDRL's and SLA's.
Lead the architecture design for PCI (payment card industry) compliance.
Manage iRules and VIP setup on F5's and juniper load balance.

Network design engineer vs network manager skills

Common network design engineer skills

Network Design, 8%
Switches, 5%
Juniper, 4%
Routers, 4%
Network Infrastructure, 4%
Troubleshoot, 4%

Common network manager skills

Customer Service, 12%
Fault Management, 6%
Network Infrastructure, 5%
Switches, 4%
Network Hardware, 4%
Project Management, 4%

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Network Design Engineer vs Network Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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