Senior director of engineering vs director of product development

The differences between senior directors of engineering and directors of product development can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes More than 10 years to become a senior director of engineering, becoming a director of product development takes usually requires 8-10 years. Additionally, a senior director of engineering has an average salary of $177,949, which is higher than the $140,507 average annual salary of a director of product development.

The top three skills for a senior director of engineering include cloud, architecture and continuous improvement. The most important skills for a director of product development are product development, project management, and product management.

Senior director of engineering vs director of product development overview

	Senior Director Of Engineering	Director Of Product Development
Yearly salary	$177,949	$140,507
Hourly rate	$85.55	$67.55
Growth rate	2%	10%
Number of jobs	75,555	175,429
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 69%	Bachelor's Degree, 71%
Average age	48	39
Years of experience	-	10

What does a senior director of engineering do?

A senior director of engineering is responsible for the collaborative success of the engineering and technical projects of the organization. Senior directors of engineering coordinate with different project teams to identify and develop cost-reduction processes, as well as strategizing on procedures to maximize the team's effort and productivity within the approved deadline. They also implement quality assurance policies to ensure the efficiency and accuracy of the project's adherence to client specifications and business requirements. A senior director of engineering reports to the senior management, conducting data analysis and identifying business opportunities to maintain the company's financial growth and stability.

What does a director of product development do?

A Director of Product Development supervises and implements product development policies, initiatives, and objectives. They conduct market research to determine consumer needs and identify competitors.

Senior director of engineering vs director of product development salary

Senior directors of engineering and directors of product development have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Senior Director Of Engineering	Director Of Product Development
Average salary	$177,949	$140,507
Salary range	Between $120,000 And $262,000	Between $100,000 And $196,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Mateo, CA
Highest paying state	Alaska	California
Best paying company	Apple	Apple
Best paying industry	Technology	Manufacturing

Differences between senior director of engineering and director of product development education

There are a few differences between a senior director of engineering and a director of product development in terms of educational background:

	Senior Director Of Engineering	Director Of Product Development
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 69%	Bachelor's Degree, 71%
Most common major	Electrical Engineering	Business
Most common college	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor	University of Georgia

Senior director of engineering vs director of product development demographics

Here are the differences between senior directors of engineering' and directors of product development' demographics:

	Senior Director Of Engineering	Director Of Product Development
Average age	48	39
Gender ratio	Male, 93.3% Female, 6.7%	Male, 72.0% Female, 28.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 8.4% Asian, 17.0% White, 66.9% 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	9%	10%

Differences between senior director of engineering and director of product development duties and responsibilities

Senior director of engineering example responsibilities.

Define the architecture of the next generation telecommunication products and lead the new technology introduction.
Define, develop and implement a manage cloud services architecture approach that is based on modular processes and continual integration/deployment interactions.
Spearhead industry-first embed Java VM, embed DCOM products.
Lead on multiple cross-functional quality initiatives for improve QA process improvements.
Change the organization from waterfall to scrum and agile development methodologies.
Remain an individual contributor and IP generator in parallel with management responsibilities.

Director of product development example responsibilities.

Organize and manage project meetings between partners, vendors, and associates using both scrum and waterfall methodologies.
Manage long-term care, hospital transition, and Medicaid- Medicare expansion initiatives, that includes model of care design and implementation )
Manage packaging design and nutritional labeling within QA guidelines.
Manage company intellectual portfolio and develop key relationships with vendors and clients including leading global technology companies.
Develop using Java, JSP, J2EE, CSS, DHTML, HTML, Plugins and JavaScript.
Prepare proposals for new projects, including project feasibility, ROI, expenses and costs.

Senior director of engineering vs director of product development skills

Common senior director of engineering skills

Cloud, 7%
Architecture, 6%
Continuous Improvement, 5%
Software Development, 5%
Infrastructure, 5%
Java, 5%

Common director of product development skills

Product Development, 12%
Project Management, 9%
Product Management, 9%
R, 7%
Product Strategy, 4%
Market Research, 3%

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Senior Director Of Engineering
Senior Director Of Engineering vs Director Of Product Development

Updated January 8, 2025

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