Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between principal project engineers and project engineering managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a principal project engineer, becoming a project engineering manager takes usually requires More than 10 years. Additionally, a principal project engineer has an average salary of $122,090, which is higher than the $110,534 average annual salary of a project engineering manager.
The top three skills for a principal project engineer include project management, program management and DOD. The most important skills for a project engineering manager are project management, project scope, and engineering design.
| Principal Project Engineer | Project Engineering Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $122,090 | $110,534 |
| Hourly rate | $58.70 | $53.14 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 95,718 | 171,897 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Average age | 42 | 48 |
| Years of experience | 4 | - |
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.
A project engineering manager's job is to oversee engineering projects in diverse industries, including transportation, software development, and utility industries. They are responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of intricate designs and evaluating and approving changes that may affect the scope, budget, and completion of a project. They also perform other essential tasks, including monitoring the project's progress and performance, developing maintenance plans, and preparing expenditure reports. Project engineering managers are also expected to resolve any issues that may arise from operations.
Principal project engineers and project engineering managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Principal Project Engineer | Project Engineering Manager | |
| Average salary | $122,090 | $110,534 |
| Salary range | Between $74,000 And $200,000 | Between $79,000 And $153,000 |
| Highest paying City | Houston, TX | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Texas | California |
| Best paying company | Alphanumeric | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Technology |
There are a few differences between a principal project engineer and a project engineering manager in terms of educational background:
| Principal Project Engineer | Project Engineering Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | University of Michigan - Ann Arbor |
Here are the differences between principal project engineers' and project engineering managers' demographics:
| Principal Project Engineer | Project Engineering Manager | |
| Average age | 42 | 48 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 88.7% Female, 11.3% | Male, 87.8% Female, 12.2% |
| Race ratio | 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% | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 9.0% Asian, 12.0% White, 71.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 9% |