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The differences between senior design engineers and senior staff 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 design engineer and a senior staff engineer. Additionally, a senior staff engineer has an average salary of $136,031, which is higher than the $104,698 average annual salary of a senior design engineer.
The top three skills for a senior design engineer include CAD, project management and RF. The most important skills for a senior staff engineer are python, java, and architecture.
| Senior Design Engineer | Senior Staff Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $104,698 | $136,031 |
| Hourly rate | $50.34 | $65.40 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 127,035 | 239,752 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A senior design engineer is responsible for creating mechanical and electrical designs for machines and systems, following clients' specifications and business guidelines. Senior design engineers also assist junior design engineers with their tasks, sharing best practices and techniques, and suggesting adjustments as needed. They also oversee the manufacturing process, inspect possible inconsistencies, and revise plans without exceeding the agreed budget or compromising the quality. A senior design engineer must be keen with details and highly organizational, especially on meeting deadlines with the highest client satisfaction.
A senior staff engineer is responsible for supervising a team of engineers, chemists, software developers, or molecular biologists. His/Her or her responsibilities include generating Structured Query Language (SQL) performance audit checklist template, creating SQL data query routines and functions for data extraction, and working directly with stakeholders. The job requires strong mechanical, listening, and mathematical skills and proficiency in Python programming language and computer architecture and hardware. The education requirements for the job include a bachelor's or master's degree in electrical engineering, business, mechanical engineering, or a related field.
Senior design engineers and senior staff engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Design Engineer | Senior Staff Engineer | |
| Average salary | $104,698 | $136,031 |
| Salary range | Between $80,000 And $136,000 | Between $95,000 And $194,000 |
| Highest paying City | Cupertino, CA | San Mateo, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Airbnb | |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Telecommunication |
There are a few differences between a senior design engineer and a senior staff engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Design Engineer | Senior Staff Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Michigan Technological University | California State Polytechnic University, Pomona |
Here are the differences between senior design engineers' and senior staff engineers' demographics:
| Senior Design Engineer | Senior Staff Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 91.8% Female, 8.2% | Male, 78.4% Female, 21.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 17.1% White, 67.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 16.8% White, 67.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |