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The differences between operations engineers and product engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both an operations engineer and a product engineer. Additionally, an operations engineer has an average salary of $91,522, which is higher than the $89,645 average annual salary of a product engineer.
The top three skills for an operations engineer include python, cloud and AWS. The most important skills for a product engineer are CAD, product design, and project management.
| Operations Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $91,522 | $89,645 |
| Hourly rate | $44.00 | $43.10 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 155,188 | 157,888 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
An operations engineer is an individual who is responsible for ensuring that the operations of a company are working properly in industries such as manufacturing or shipping. Operations engineers are required to handle repairs or upgrades to the company's machinery and coordinate with department heads to assist in fine-tuning their operations system. When they have upgraded their system, operations engineers should conduct training with managers as well as employees and other workers. They are also required to examine machinery for defects and communicate maintenance schedules with department heads.
A product engineer specializes in designing and developing commercial materials and services. They are primarily responsible for conducting thorough research and analysis of the latest trends and marketing conditions to come up with new ideas and products for the public. Moreover, they are also responsible for producing reports and presentations, coordinating with the development team of their company. Product engineers also reach out to vendors and suppliers for the raw materials, set regulations and standards for the product, and even conduct a rigorous and regular quality check.
Operations engineers and product engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Operations Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Average salary | $91,522 | $89,645 |
| Salary range | Between $63,000 And $132,000 | Between $68,000 And $118,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Apple | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between an operations engineer and a product engineer in terms of educational background:
| Operations Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Michigan Technological University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between operations engineers' and product engineers' demographics:
| Operations Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 89.9% Female, 10.1% | Male, 87.8% Female, 12.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.2% Asian, 10.6% White, 72.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 17.0% White, 67.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |