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The differences between senior industrial engineers and project lead engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a senior industrial engineer and a project lead engineer. Additionally, a project lead engineer has an average salary of $106,946, which is higher than the $87,816 average annual salary of a senior industrial engineer.
The top three skills for a senior industrial engineer include project management, lean manufacturing and lean six sigma. The most important skills for a project lead engineer are project management, renewable energy, and project execution.
| Senior Industrial Engineer | Project Lead Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $87,816 | $106,946 |
| Hourly rate | $42.22 | $51.42 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 49,895 | 98,018 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 78% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A senior industrial engineer is a manufacturing professional who develops improvements and maintains the efficiency of a company's manufacturing processes. Senior industrial engineers are required to carry out feasibility analyses while developing new product designs and make modifications to the current designs. They collect data to identify opportunities to streamline, improve, and increase standardization as well as evaluate workflow to improve safety and efficiency. They must also facilitate cross-team interactions and train teams in quality assurance and other tasks.
Project lead engineers are engineering professionals who are responsible for leading other professionals in completing a particular project. These engineers must develop a project management framework to be implemented throughout the organization based on the inputs from internal stakeholders and team members. They are required to train junior team members so that they can provide proper technical support functions. Project lead engineers must also prepare and review cost estimates for a variety of projects during bidding, construction, and post-construction phases.
Senior industrial engineers and project lead engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Industrial Engineer | Project Lead Engineer | |
| Average salary | $87,816 | $106,946 |
| Salary range | Between $68,000 And $113,000 | Between $78,000 And $146,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | Cupertino, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | California |
| Best paying company | Amazon | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Automotive |
There are a few differences between a senior industrial engineer and a project lead engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Industrial Engineer | Project Lead Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 78% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Most common major | Industrial Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | New York University | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between senior industrial engineers' and project lead engineers' demographics:
| Senior Industrial Engineer | Project Lead Engineer | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 85.2% Female, 14.8% | Male, 86.8% Female, 13.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.9% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 12.2% Asian, 11.2% White, 67.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.4% Asian, 15.2% White, 66.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 4% |