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The differences between senior design projects and senior 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 project and a senior engineer. Additionally, a senior engineer has an average salary of $108,743, which is higher than the $92,208 average annual salary of a senior design project.
The top three skills for a senior design project include solidworks, medical devices and prototype. The most important skills for a senior engineer are java, python, and architecture.
| Senior Design Project | Senior Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $92,208 | $108,743 |
| Hourly rate | $44.33 | $52.28 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 70,865 | 343,200 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 86% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A senior design project worker is responsible for developing digital content designs and applications using various software tools, following clients' specifications and requests. Senior designers must be highly-organizational and communicative, especially on providing progress updates to the client and performing multiple design adjustments as needed. A senior designer should create and recommend designs based on the clients' budget goals without compromising the quality of the output. Senior design projects work closely with the design engineering team to maintain flawless layouts and achieve client satisfaction.
A senior engineer is responsible for overseeing all operations within a designated area. With years of experience and expertise, a senior engineer may take charge of establishing goals, deadlines, and budgets for a particular project. They must devise and implement strategies that would improve the quality of workflow and deliver significant results. Furthermore, a senior manager must also supervise a team of skilled engineers, leading them in the joint effort to reach the company's vision and mission, all while adhering to the safety standards and regulations.
Senior design projects and senior engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Design Project | Senior Engineer | |
| Average salary | $92,208 | $108,743 |
| Salary range | Between $70,000 And $120,000 | Between $82,000 And $144,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Mateo, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | California |
| Best paying company | HDR | Roku |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Start-up |
There are a few differences between a senior design project and a senior engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Design Project | Senior Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 86% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Georgia Institute of Technology | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between senior design projects' and senior engineers' demographics:
| Senior Design Project | Senior Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 80.3% Female, 19.7% | Male, 89.1% Female, 10.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 17.0% White, 67.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | 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% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |