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Principal process engineer vs principal project engineer

The differences between principal process engineers and principal project engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a principal process engineer and a principal project engineer. Additionally, a principal process engineer has an average salary of $126,348, which is higher than the $122,090 average annual salary of a principal project engineer.

The top three skills for a principal process engineer include process engineering, continuous improvement and engineering design. The most important skills for a principal project engineer are project management, program management, and DOD.

Principal process engineer vs principal project engineer overview

Principal Process EngineerPrincipal Project Engineer
Yearly salary$126,348$122,090
Hourly rate$60.74$58.70
Growth rate10%10%
Number of jobs82,35895,718
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 73%Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Average age4242
Years of experience44

What does a principal process engineer do?

A Principal Process Engineer is responsible for analyzing process technologies and proposal support for the engineering activities of the organization. They may work in various industries, such as chemical, petrochemical, agriculture, software development, and biotechnological.

What does a principal project engineer do?

A principal project engineer spearheads and oversees engineering projects, ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. It is their duty to set guidelines and objectives, provide technical and engineering support to various teams, gather and analyze data, identify the strengths and weaknesses of existing procedures, implement solutions against problem areas, and conducting inspections to ensure that all processes adhere to the company's quality standards and safety regulations, including the state and industry laws. Moreover, as a principal project engineer, it is essential to monitor the progress of all operations, training junior engineers when necessary.

Principal process engineer vs principal project engineer salary

Principal process engineers and principal project engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Principal Process EngineerPrincipal Project Engineer
Average salary$126,348$122,090
Salary rangeBetween $93,000 And $171,000Between $74,000 And $200,000
Highest paying CityTucson, AZHouston, TX
Highest paying stateArizonaTexas
Best paying companyGoogleAlphanumeric
Best paying industryFinanceFinance

Differences between principal process engineer and principal project engineer education

There are a few differences between a principal process engineer and a principal project engineer in terms of educational background:

Principal Process EngineerPrincipal Project Engineer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 73%Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Most common majorChemical EngineeringMechanical Engineering
Most common collegeUniversity of Michigan - Ann ArborNorthwestern University

Principal process engineer vs principal project engineer demographics

Here are the differences between principal process engineers' and principal project engineers' demographics:

Principal Process EngineerPrincipal Project Engineer
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 84.4% Female, 15.6%Male, 88.7% Female, 11.3%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.6% Asian, 15.7% White, 65.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.5% Asian, 15.5% White, 65.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage4%4%

Differences between principal process engineer and principal project engineer duties and responsibilities

Principal process engineer example responsibilities.

  • Manage customer complaint resolution, root cause analysis, maintaining conformance for ISO certification.
  • Utilize SolidWorks 3D modeling in the development of new designs and components.
  • Generate detailed manufacturing process descriptions to meet FDA and global documentation requirements for medical device manufacturing.
  • Develop a method to get AutoCad isometric drawings relevant to relief valve transferred electronically to the relief valve sizing package.
  • Develop and refine device life models base on first-principles material degradation effects within ring laser gyro electronics.

Principal project engineer example responsibilities.

  • Lead a team of contracts management, engineering and marketing to secure multi-million dollar contracts from DoD and commercial customers.
  • Manage multiple crews for installation, implementation and service of RF and telecommunications systems throughout Florida.
  • Construct thread-safe, share memory libraries for concurrent data capture in Java and C++.
  • Used a variety of debugging tools to trace and debug multithreading applications on both development and production stage.
  • Design $2.5 million dollar class 8 clean room including 3 clean room manufacturing areas, gown room and QA office.
  • Integrate PCoIP infrastructure in DC and deploy thin clients in office as a security and cost saving replacement for Linux workstations.
  • Show more

Principal process engineer vs principal project engineer skills

Common principal process engineer skills
  • Process Engineering, 9%
  • Continuous Improvement, 7%
  • Engineering Design, 6%
  • RF, 5%
  • Process Control, 5%
  • Process Improvement, 5%
Common principal project engineer skills
  • Project Management, 24%
  • Program Management, 13%
  • DOD, 7%
  • Risk Management, 6%
  • Project Scope, 3%
  • Earned Value Management, 3%

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