Post job

Senior electrical designer vs electrical engineer

The differences between senior electrical designers and electrical engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a senior electrical designer and an electrical engineer. Additionally, a senior electrical designer has an average salary of $87,859, which is higher than the $81,026 average annual salary of an electrical engineer.

The top three skills for a senior electrical designer include electrical design, revit and electrical equipment. The most important skills for an electrical engineer are autocad, electrical systems, and UL.

Senior electrical designer vs electrical engineer overview

Senior Electrical DesignerElectrical Engineer
Yearly salary$87,859$81,026
Hourly rate$42.24$38.95
Growth rate3%3%
Number of jobs78,83868,536
Job satisfaction-4
Most common degreeAssociate Degree, 50%Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Average age4545
Years of experience22

What does a senior electrical designer do?

A Senior Electrical Designer is in charge of creating electrical schematics, layouts, and other grid plans for their organization, as well as providing the best solution for improvements. They supervise the material, construction, labor costs, and project timescales.

What does an electrical engineer do?

Electrical engineers are responsible for designing and developing new electrical systems, solving issues, and testing equipment. They work on various technologies, including telecommunication systems, satellite communications, and electrical power stations. Electrical engineers study and apply the mathematics and physics of electromagnetism, electronics, and electricity to small and large-scale electrical systems to transmit energy and process information. They often work with all types of electronic devices, such as supercomputers and power transmission. They also work in the emerging field of microelectronics.

Senior electrical designer vs electrical engineer salary

Senior electrical designers and electrical engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Senior Electrical DesignerElectrical Engineer
Average salary$87,859$81,026
Salary rangeBetween $66,000 And $116,000Between $59,000 And $109,000
Highest paying CityCeres, CARedmond, WA
Highest paying stateAlaskaWashington
Best paying companyLam ResearchApple
Best paying industryManufacturingTechnology

Differences between senior electrical designer and electrical engineer education

There are a few differences between a senior electrical designer and an electrical engineer in terms of educational background:

Senior Electrical DesignerElectrical Engineer
Most common degreeAssociate Degree, 50%Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Most common majorElectrical EngineeringElectrical Engineering
Most common collegeMichigan Technological UniversityMichigan Technological University

Senior electrical designer vs electrical engineer demographics

Here are the differences between senior electrical designers' and electrical engineers' demographics:

Senior Electrical DesignerElectrical Engineer
Average age4545
Gender ratioMale, 89.2% Female, 10.8%Male, 90.0% Female, 10.0%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 4.8% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.0% Asian, 14.5% White, 64.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 4.8% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.1% Asian, 16.2% White, 63.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage6%6%

Differences between senior electrical designer and electrical engineer duties and responsibilities

Senior electrical designer example responsibilities.

  • Lead all phases of facility HAZWOPER projects including environmental HVAC upgrades and environmental remediation initiatives.
  • Design control systems according to NFPA 79 and IEC 204 electrical standards.
  • Coordinate safety training and ensure OSHA compliance through training and site review.
  • Design include various NFPA requirements (including fire pumps).
  • Document existing control panels, HMI, and PLC s, to move or duplicate for the new operators control building.
  • Red-Line several large instrument/Electrical packages for as-built.
  • Show more

Electrical engineer example responsibilities.

  • Achieve rugged secure extension of HMI modules with USB host and device auto switching capability.
  • Achieve low cost solution for professional tier radio with rug full color display and USB accessory interface.
  • Accomplish intelligent remote terminal unit (RTU) automatic control with graphical liquid crystal display (LCD).
  • Develop LabVIEW code to automate test procedures and to communicate with units for verification of functionality and accuracy.
  • Coordinate with senior electrical engineers and achieve hands-on experience on coal fire plant power generation and power transformers, circuit breakers.
  • Provide engineering design CADD and REVIT support for the Ellerbe Becket electrical department.
  • Show more

Senior electrical designer vs electrical engineer skills

Common senior electrical designer skills
  • Electrical Design, 9%
  • Revit, 6%
  • Electrical Equipment, 5%
  • Electrical Systems, 5%
  • Autocad Electrical, 5%
  • NEC, 4%
Common electrical engineer skills
  • Autocad, 6%
  • Electrical Systems, 6%
  • UL, 4%
  • Electrical Design, 4%
  • CAD, 4%
  • C++, 4%

Browse architecture and engineering jobs