Senior hardware engineer vs manager, hardware engineering

The differences between senior hardware engineers and managers, hardware engineering 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 hardware engineer and a manager, hardware engineering. Additionally, a manager, hardware engineering has an average salary of $148,792, which is higher than the $116,383 average annual salary of a senior hardware engineer.

The top three skills for a senior hardware engineer include C++, RF and PCB. The most important skills for a manager, hardware engineering are RF, hardware engineering, and hardware development.

Senior hardware engineer vs manager, hardware engineering overview

	Senior Hardware Engineer	Manager, Hardware Engineering
Yearly salary	$116,383	$148,792
Hourly rate	$55.95	$71.53
Growth rate	5%	5%
Number of jobs	55,261	63,636
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	2	2

What does a senior hardware engineer do?

A Senior Hardware Engineer is responsible for designing computer hardware. They define and coordinate corrective action changes, as well as provide technical support to team members.

What does a manager, hardware engineering do?

Managerial experience is a must if you want to be a hardware engineering manager. Mainly, they are tasked to oversee and monitor everything that is happening in an engineering department. They need to ensure that all the hardware equipment and products are being utilized properly and orderly. Engineering managers coordinate with the suppliers, contractors, manufacturers as well as clients to provide them a quality of service.

Senior hardware engineer vs manager, hardware engineering salary

Senior hardware engineers and managers, hardware engineering have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Senior Hardware Engineer	Manager, Hardware Engineering
Average salary	$116,383	$148,792
Salary range	Between $89,000 And $151,000	Between $111,000 And $198,000
Highest paying City	Seattle, WA	Everett, WA
Highest paying state	Washington	Washington
Best paying company	Netflix	Meta
Best paying industry	Automotive	Technology

Differences between senior hardware engineer and manager, hardware engineering education

There are a few differences between a senior hardware engineer and a manager, hardware engineering in terms of educational background:

	Senior Hardware Engineer	Manager, Hardware Engineering
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Most common major	Electrical Engineering	Electrical Engineering
Most common college	Northeastern University	Northeastern University

Senior hardware engineer vs manager, hardware engineering demographics

Here are the differences between senior hardware engineers' and managers, hardware engineering' demographics:

	Senior Hardware Engineer	Manager, Hardware Engineering
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 93.5% Female, 6.5%	Male, 92.2% Female, 7.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 2.9% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 29.9% White, 50.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 7.1% Unknown, 2.8% Hispanic or Latino, 9.3% Asian, 29.8% White, 50.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	4%	4%

Differences between senior hardware engineer and manager, hardware engineering duties and responsibilities

Senior hardware engineer example responsibilities.

Generate synthesis reports and automate simulation using Perl scripts.
Provide primarily register-transfer level (RTL) design, IP integration, verification, and IP validation for delivery.
Create schematics and provide guidance of PCB layout fabrication including signal integrity and power distribution.
Collaborate with cross-functional teams to participate in mechanical design and implementation; assist in software debugging and design verification testing.
Used PMBus, SMBus, I2C analyzer to communicate with processor.
Cut design time because of good VHDL design for re-use techniques 5MP2FH.

Manager, hardware engineering example responsibilities.

Manage the development of a LabVIEW driver for the multi-axis motion controller.
Manage outside consulting firms and engineers for circuit design, PCB design, software drivers, and prototype production.
Lead the hardware engineering department consisting of system design, FPGA design, and diagnostics, mechanical and manufacturing engineers.
Participate in the negotiation of a new ATM vendor contract and subsequently manage the project to convert to a new platform.
Develop a LabVIEW application to automate the data acquisition of the qualification performance data.
Provide architecture and hw program resources and management.

Senior hardware engineer vs manager, hardware engineering skills

Common senior hardware engineer skills

C++, 6%
RF, 6%
PCB, 6%
Analog, 4%
Test Equipment, 3%
CAD, 3%

Common manager, hardware engineering skills

RF, 12%
Hardware Engineering, 8%
Hardware Development, 6%
Project Management, 5%
Firmware, 5%
PCB, 4%

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Senior Hardware Engineer
Senior Hardware Engineer vs Manager, Hardware Engineering

Updated January 8, 2025

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