Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between product leads and product engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 8-10 years to become a product lead, becoming a product engineer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a product lead has an average salary of $118,828, which is higher than the $89,645 average annual salary of a product engineer.
The top three skills for a product lead include product management, project management and architecture. The most important skills for a product engineer are CAD, product design, and project management.
| Product Lead | Product Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $118,828 | $89,645 |
| Hourly rate | $57.13 | $43.10 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 95,557 | 157,888 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Average age | 39 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 10 | 6 |
A product lead is responsible for monitoring the development of new products and services of an organization, starting from brand conceptualization to official market release and distribution. Product leads identify effective product management by conducting data analysis and evaluating market statistics of customer demands. They coordinate with the clients on their specifications and requirements, including the budget limit and timely deliverables. A product lead manages the brand promotion on media platforms, creating content that adheres to the target audience.
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.
Product leads and product engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Product Lead | Product Engineer | |
| Average salary | $118,828 | $89,645 |
| Salary range | Between $86,000 And $163,000 | Between $68,000 And $118,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Airbnb | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Hospitality | Technology |
There are a few differences between a product lead and a product engineer in terms of educational background:
| Product Lead | Product Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Most common major | Business | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | University of Georgia | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between product leads' and product engineers' demographics:
| Product Lead | Product Engineer | |
| Average age | 39 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 71.1% Female, 28.9% | Male, 87.8% Female, 12.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | 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 | 10% | 5% |