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The differences between project directors and project engineering managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a project engineering manager has an average salary of $110,534, which is higher than the $107,396 average annual salary of a project director.
The top three skills for a project director include project management, oversight and customer satisfaction. The most important skills for a project engineering manager are project management, project scope, and engineering design.
| Project Director | Project Engineering Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $107,396 | $110,534 |
| Hourly rate | $51.63 | $53.14 |
| Growth rate | - | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 116,968 | 171,897 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Average age | 47 | 48 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
A project director is an individual responsible for supervising workers from various departments given specific tasks to complete a given project. They create a budget to complete a job while monitoring the amount of money spent to ensure that overspending is avoided. They provide presentations to investors, business partners, and company executives to inform them about their progress and development. Project directors must have several years of experience and obtain at least a bachelor's degree in business economics or a related field to be hired.
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.
Project directors and project engineering managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Project Director | Project Engineering Manager | |
| Average salary | $107,396 | $110,534 |
| Salary range | Between $70,000 And $162,000 | Between $79,000 And $153,000 |
| Highest paying City | Las Vegas, NV | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Nevada | California |
| Best paying company | Fried Frank | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a project director and a project engineering manager in terms of educational background:
| Project Director | Project Engineering Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Most common major | Business | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Michigan - Ann Arbor |
Here are the differences between project directors' and project engineering managers' demographics:
| Project Director | Project Engineering Manager | |
| Average age | 47 | 48 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 56.2% Female, 43.8% | Male, 87.8% Female, 12.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 7.5% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.5% Asian, 8.8% White, 65.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | 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 | 10% | 9% |