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The differences between requirements engineers and product owners can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a requirements engineer, becoming a product owner takes usually requires 8-10 years. Additionally, a product owner has an average salary of $97,070, which is higher than the $87,170 average annual salary of a requirements engineer.
The top three skills for a requirements engineer include java, software development and powerpoint. The most important skills for a product owner are user stories, acceptance criteria, and product backlog.
| Requirements Engineer | Product Owner | |
| Yearly salary | $87,170 | $97,070 |
| Hourly rate | $41.91 | $46.67 |
| Growth rate | 21% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 166,444 | 129,990 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 10 |
Requirements engineers are responsible for the analysis, documentation, coordination, and management of requirements regarding new software projects. They identify and understand the customer's project-specific demands and document them in a clear and binding way. Their duties and responsibilities also include preparing well-written and detailed documentation of the project and ensuring the project is designed and built within the legal parameters.
Product owners are at the forefront of an organization's development cycle. They have various duties and responsibilities, which include ensuring that the value of products created by the development team is maximized, creating a vision and defining the goals for development projects, and working closely with all stakeholders. As the product owner, you are responsible for ensuring that the development team maintains a consistent vision and overseeing the product backlog. You are also expected to supervise the actual product development stages and anticipate the needs of clients.
Requirements engineers and product owners have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Requirements Engineer | Product Owner | |
| Average salary | $87,170 | $97,070 |
| Salary range | Between $62,000 And $120,000 | Between $71,000 And $130,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | The Citadel | ORIX USA |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a requirements engineer and a product owner in terms of educational background:
| Requirements Engineer | Product Owner | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | University of Georgia |
Here are the differences between requirements engineers' and product owners' demographics:
| Requirements Engineer | Product Owner | |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 64.5% Female, 35.5% | Male, 64.3% Female, 35.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.6% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.3% Asian, 29.8% White, 52.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | 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% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 10% |