Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between production engineering managers and production engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes More than 10 years to become a production engineering manager, becoming a production engineer takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a production engineering manager has an average salary of $96,688, which is higher than the $89,727 average annual salary of a production engineer.
The top three skills for a production engineering manager include production engineering, continuous improvement and R. The most important skills for a production engineer are java, continuous improvement, and lean manufacturing.
| Production Engineering Manager | Production Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $96,688 | $89,727 |
| Hourly rate | $46.48 | $43.14 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 123,344 | 94,789 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 76% |
| Average age | 48 | 42 |
| Years of experience | - | 4 |
Most of the production engineering managers oversee the designing and planning methods to improve existing programs. Part of their duties is to review budgets, production requirements, and schedules to determine the most cost-effective methods of obtaining necessary resources. These managers recommend revisions to schedules, monetary resource allocations, and production requirements. They act as an advisor to the production engineering teams about tasks, projects, and operations. Production engineering managers must be capable of resolving escalated concerns from operations and requiring coordination with other departments.
A production engineer is responsible for monitoring the production operations, ensuring everyone's adherence to safety protocols, and evaluating the staff's performance, strategizing on maximizing productivity to deliver efficient results that would drive revenues and increase profitability. Production engineers inspect the reliability of production equipment and machinery, conducting preventive maintenance, and repair inconsistencies to prevent production delays. They also identify areas of improvement with the manufacturing processes and escalate best practices for improvement. A production engineer must be knowledgeable about technological advancements and incorporate ideas to minimize costs without sacrificing the quality of services.
Production engineering managers and production engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Production Engineering Manager | Production Engineer | |
| Average salary | $96,688 | $89,727 |
| Salary range | Between $68,000 And $135,000 | Between $64,000 And $125,000 |
| Highest paying City | Menlo Park, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | Cheniere Energy |
| Best paying industry | Energy | Technology |
There are a few differences between a production engineering manager and a production engineer in terms of educational background:
| Production Engineering Manager | Production Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 76% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | University of Michigan - Ann Arbor | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between production engineering managers' and production engineers' demographics:
| Production Engineering Manager | Production Engineer | |
| Average age | 48 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 94.4% Female, 5.6% | Male, 86.7% Female, 13.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 11.8% White, 71.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.5% Asian, 15.4% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 4% |