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The differences between senior design specialists and 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 design specialist and a design engineer. Additionally, a senior design specialist has an average salary of $96,923, which is higher than the $77,134 average annual salary of a design engineer.
The top three skills for a senior design specialist include sketch, SR and design solutions. The most important skills for a design engineer are C++, UL, and project management.
| Senior Design Specialist | Design Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $96,923 | $77,134 |
| Hourly rate | $46.60 | $37.08 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 45,603 | 138,173 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 53% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A senior design specialist's main responsibility is managing design projects and delivering them within the deadlines. They have to also look after the junior designers and ensure that the quality of designs meets company standards.
A design engineer is responsible for creating systems and applications based on their expertise. Design engineers work through client specifications based on business needs. A design engineer also provides recommendations on improving existing systems to boost its performance and increase efficiency. Design engineers must have an excellent command of computer systems, programming codes, and technical data to ensure the system's stability and high-quality processes. A design engineer should also have strong analytical and time-management skills to perform tasks and meet deadlines.
Senior design specialists and design engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Design Specialist | Design Engineer | |
| Average salary | $96,923 | $77,134 |
| Salary range | Between $71,000 And $131,000 | Between $57,000 And $102,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | McKinsey & Company Inc | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Automotive | Technology |
There are a few differences between a senior design specialist and a design engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Design Specialist | Design Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 53% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Most common major | Drafting And Design | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Carnegie Mellon University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between senior design specialists' and design engineers' demographics:
| Senior Design Specialist | Design Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 74.9% Female, 25.1% | Male, 88.9% Female, 11.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.1% Asian, 10.4% White, 72.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 8.2% Asian, 16.8% White, 67.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |