Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between senior engineers and requirements engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a senior engineer, becoming a requirements engineer takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a senior engineer has an average salary of $108,743, which is higher than the $87,170 average annual salary of a requirements engineer.
The top three skills for a senior engineer include java, python and architecture. The most important skills for a requirements engineer are java, software development, and powerpoint.
| Senior Engineer | Requirements Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $108,743 | $87,170 |
| Hourly rate | $52.28 | $41.91 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 21% |
| Number of jobs | 343,200 | 166,444 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Average age | 41 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 4 |
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.
Requirements engineers are responsible for the analysis, documentation, coordination, and management of requirements regarding new software projects. They identify and understand the customer's project-specific demands and document them in a clear and binding way. Their duties and responsibilities also include preparing well-written and detailed documentation of the project and ensuring the project is designed and built within the legal parameters.
Senior engineers and requirements engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Engineer | Requirements Engineer | |
| Average salary | $108,743 | $87,170 |
| Salary range | Between $82,000 And $144,000 | Between $62,000 And $120,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Mateo, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Roku | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Start-up | Technology |
There are a few differences between a senior engineer and a requirements engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Engineer | Requirements Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Michigan Technological University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between senior engineers' and requirements engineers' demographics:
| Senior Engineer | Requirements Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 89.1% Female, 10.9% | Male, 64.5% Female, 35.5% |
| 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, 4.6% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.3% Asian, 29.8% White, 52.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 8% |