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The differences between senior industrial engineers and quality 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 quality engineer. Additionally, a senior industrial engineer has an average salary of $87,816, which is higher than the $79,672 average annual salary of a quality 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 quality engineer are corrective action, continuous improvement, and ISO.
| Senior Industrial Engineer | Quality Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $87,816 | $79,672 |
| Hourly rate | $42.22 | $38.30 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 49,895 | 96,838 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 78% | Bachelor's Degree, 70% |
| 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.
A quality engineer's responsibilities include ensuring that the manufacturing processes are efficient and accurate, documenting findings that would raise concerns, conducting quality tests while observing parameters, and implementing changes as necessary to meet the highest quality standards. Quality engineers need to have excellent problem-solving and observation skills to detect any irregularities and possible malfunctions. They also must be able to communicate effectively with the clients for feedbacks and corrective adjustments, address complaints, and immediately resolve any inconsistencies made.
Senior industrial engineers and quality engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Industrial Engineer | Quality Engineer | |
| Average salary | $87,816 | $79,672 |
| Salary range | Between $68,000 And $113,000 | Between $61,000 And $103,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Washington |
| Best paying company | Amazon | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a senior industrial engineer and a quality engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Industrial Engineer | Quality Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 78% | Bachelor's Degree, 70% |
| Most common major | Industrial Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | New York University | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between senior industrial engineers' and quality engineers' demographics:
| Senior Industrial Engineer | Quality Engineer | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 85.2% Female, 14.8% | Male, 78.2% Female, 21.8% |
| 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, 4.7% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 11.5% Asian, 13.9% White, 65.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 4% |