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The differences between senior controls engineers and staff design engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a senior controls engineer and a staff design engineer. Additionally, a staff design engineer has an average salary of $128,071, which is higher than the $107,298 average annual salary of a senior controls engineer.
The top three skills for a senior controls engineer include control systems, HMI and C++. The most important skills for a staff design engineer are architecture, RF, and CAD.
| Senior Controls Engineer | Staff Design Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $107,298 | $128,071 |
| Hourly rate | $51.59 | $61.57 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 39,440 | 154,963 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A senior controls engineer specializes in designing and developing control systems in various industries. Their responsibilities typically include identifying and understanding the company's needs, producing prototypes and test structures, gathering and analyzing data to identify areas needing improvement, implementing solutions in vulnerable areas, and providing technical support when necessary. Furthermore, as a senior controls engineer, it is essential to lead and serve as a mentor to junior engineers, all while enforcing the company's policies and regulations.
Staff design engineers are tasked to assess the efficiency of instruments, technologies, and equipment by collaborating with the engineering team to plan, design, and develop technologies efficiently. Their responsibilities include building and setting up, as wells as improving systems and procedures. They should possess strong attention to detail, good visual and spatial awareness, creativity, problem-solving, excellent verbal, written, and project management skills, and strong mathematical and IT skills to become efficient and effective staff design engineers.
Senior controls engineers and staff design engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Controls Engineer | Staff Design Engineer | |
| Average salary | $107,298 | $128,071 |
| Salary range | Between $82,000 And $138,000 | Between $89,000 And $182,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Sagent Pharmaceuticals | HBO |
| Best paying industry | Automotive | Technology |
There are a few differences between a senior controls engineer and a staff design engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Controls Engineer | Staff Design Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Northeastern University |
Here are the differences between senior controls engineers' and staff design engineers' demographics:
| Senior Controls Engineer | Staff Design Engineer | |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 84.6% Female, 15.4% | Male, 75.7% Female, 24.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.7% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 10.9% Asian, 14.5% White, 64.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 4.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.7% Asian, 23.8% White, 57.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |