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Project engineering manager vs engineering director

The differences between project engineering managers and engineering directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes More than 10 years to become both a project engineering manager and an engineering director. Additionally, an engineering director has an average salary of $162,252, which is higher than the $110,534 average annual salary of a project engineering manager.

The top three skills for a project engineering manager include project management, project scope and engineering design. The most important skills for an engineering director are java, architecture, and infrastructure.

Project engineering manager vs engineering director overview

Project Engineering ManagerEngineering Director
Yearly salary$110,534$162,252
Hourly rate$53.14$78.01
Growth rate2%2%
Number of jobs171,89763,868
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 72%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Average age4848
Years of experience--

What does a project engineering manager do?

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.

What does an engineering director do?

An engineering director or director of engineering is an individual who manages a team of engineering managers and coordinates all the engineering activities within the organization. Engineering directors work closely with the organization's executives to develop new strategies to reduce unnecessary costs and time to complete their projects. They must understand and interpret complex sets of data such as profits, losses, or value of liabilities to identify problems and come up with solutions. Engineering directors must also ensure that safety protocols are implemented in the workforce.

Project engineering manager vs engineering director salary

Project engineering managers and engineering directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

Project Engineering ManagerEngineering Director
Average salary$110,534$162,252
Salary rangeBetween $79,000 And $153,000Between $109,000 And $239,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best paying companyAppleBrookfield Properties
Best paying industryTechnologyTechnology

Differences between project engineering manager and engineering director education

There are a few differences between a project engineering manager and an engineering director in terms of educational background:

Project Engineering ManagerEngineering Director
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 72%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Most common majorMechanical EngineeringElectrical Engineering
Most common collegeUniversity of Michigan - Ann ArborUniversity of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Project engineering manager vs engineering director demographics

Here are the differences between project engineering managers' and engineering directors' demographics:

Project Engineering ManagerEngineering Director
Average age4848
Gender ratioMale, 87.8% Female, 12.2%Male, 94.6% Female, 5.4%
Race ratioBlack 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%Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 9.1% Asian, 13.1% White, 69.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage9%9%

Differences between project engineering manager and engineering director duties and responsibilities

Project engineering manager example responsibilities.

  • Interview, hire and manage engineering and cad teams to accomplish all projects acquire with quality and on-time delivery.
  • Manage APQP tasks and submit documentation to customer.
  • Lead an engineering team that develop a vision technology product resulting in winning multiple DOD awards.
  • Manage UL, FCC and ANSI testing of new products and product production with contract manufacturers.
  • Establish SharePoint site to manage all records to ensure facility is built codes and standards if audit by regulators.
  • Manage desktop, server and network teams' projects, and fill in as Unix support for tape backup management.
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Engineering director example responsibilities.

  • Monitor and manage performance base on multiple KPI's.
  • Manage all FCC filings for the registration of license frequencies.
  • Improve network reliability and manage signal leakage and FCC compliance.
  • Lead implementation and remediation efforts to ensure HIPPA, SOX, and PCI compliance.
  • Manage a team to develop and support SaaS base access control product for health care industry.
  • Manage release and deployments for multiple, concurrent Java project across varying release cycles from inception to delivery.
  • Show more

Project engineering manager vs engineering director skills

Common project engineering manager skills
  • Project Management, 22%
  • Project Scope, 6%
  • Engineering Design, 4%
  • Autocad, 4%
  • Capital Projects, 4%
  • Project Execution, 3%
Common engineering director skills
  • Java, 7%
  • Architecture, 7%
  • Infrastructure, 6%
  • AWS, 5%
  • Project Management, 5%
  • Customer Service, 4%

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