Post job

Pharmaceutical engineer vs engineer

The differences between pharmaceutical engineers and engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a pharmaceutical engineer, becoming an engineer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, an engineer has an average salary of $92,077, which is higher than the $84,592 average annual salary of a pharmaceutical engineer.

The top three skills for a pharmaceutical engineer include PLC, process improvement and FDA. The most important skills for an engineer are python, cloud, and C++.

Pharmaceutical engineer vs engineer overview

Pharmaceutical EngineerEngineer
Yearly salary$84,592$92,077
Hourly rate$40.67$44.27
Growth rate10%2%
Number of jobs38,658618,207
Job satisfaction54.33
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 75%Bachelor's Degree, 65%
Average age4241
Years of experience46

Pharmaceutical engineer vs engineer salary

Pharmaceutical engineers and engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Pharmaceutical EngineerEngineer
Average salary$84,592$92,077
Salary rangeBetween $58,000 And $121,000Between $65,000 And $130,000
Highest paying CityFoster City, CAHuntsville, AL
Highest paying stateWashingtonNew Hampshire
Best paying companyGilead SciencesFort Bend County
Best paying industry-Automotive

Differences between pharmaceutical engineer and engineer education

There are a few differences between a pharmaceutical engineer and an engineer in terms of educational background:

Pharmaceutical EngineerEngineer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 75%Bachelor's Degree, 65%
Most common majorChemical EngineeringMechanical Engineering
Most common collegeUniversity of Michigan - Ann ArborMichigan Technological University

Pharmaceutical engineer vs engineer demographics

Here are the differences between pharmaceutical engineers' and engineers' demographics:

Pharmaceutical EngineerEngineer
Average age4241
Gender ratioMale, 66.7% Female, 33.3%Male, 86.3% Female, 13.7%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 3.6% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 10.5% White, 73.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 3.3% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.1% Asian, 15.0% White, 67.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage4%5%

Differences between pharmaceutical engineer and engineer duties and responsibilities

Pharmaceutical engineer example responsibilities.

  • Manage overall validation programs for the GMP products at the manufacturing facility and the contract manufacturing company.
  • Participate in regulatory agency inspections (FDA, EU) as a subject matter expert and minimize findings.
  • Develop skills in process change control, aseptic technique and gowning, validation, FDA audits and writing manufacturing tickets.
  • Prepare installation qualification, operational qualification, and performance qualification (IQ/OQ/PQ) protocols and reports.
  • Expedite and simplify the quotation process for solar water heating systems by accurately representing solar water heating system performance through MATLAB models
  • Provide plant technical input for all modifications affecting EQ equipment.
  • Show more

Engineer example responsibilities.

  • Manage startup, trouble shooting and testing of PLC control equipment.
  • Lead project team to design and FDA validate 10-up extreme accuracy vial dosing system and CIP/SIP automate cleaning equipment.
  • Automate the creation of a WebLogic Admin and manage server deployment scheme within an installer for secure application deployment.
  • Install and test PLC in client own equipment on site - solve some logical and hardware issues to accomplish goal
  • Implement and manage continuous delivery systems and methodologies on AWS.
  • Manage Terraform and refactore from monolithic to application specific components.
  • Show more

Pharmaceutical engineer vs engineer skills

Common pharmaceutical engineer skills
  • PLC, 28%
  • Process Improvement, 26%
  • FDA, 17%
  • API, 10%
  • Process Equipment, 10%
  • Sops, 3%
Common engineer skills
  • Python, 8%
  • Cloud, 6%
  • C++, 5%
  • C #, 5%
  • AWS, 5%
  • Java, 4%

Browse architecture and engineering jobs