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The differences between senior manufacturing process engineers and chief engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a senior manufacturing process engineer, becoming a chief engineer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a chief engineer has an average salary of $108,050, which is higher than the $94,308 average annual salary of a senior manufacturing process engineer.
The top three skills for a senior manufacturing process engineer include lean manufacturing, sigma and continuous improvement. The most important skills for a chief engineer are HVAC, plumbing, and customer service.
| Senior Manufacturing Process Engineer | Chief Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $94,308 | $108,050 |
| Hourly rate | $45.34 | $51.95 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 75,273 | 88,473 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Average age | 42 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 6 |
As a senior manufacturing process engineer, you must have great experience in the manufacturing process. You need to have excellent problem-solving ability and time management skills. To ensure that the company's manufacturing process is well-run, you have to also look after a team of manufacturing engineers. You also need to have excellent mapping skills to help in the improvement of the organization.
To apply for the post of senior manufacturing process engineer, five years of engineering experience is preferred. A science degree in manufacturing or industrial engineering is required.
A chief engineer is responsible for monitoring the engineering department's overall operations, ensuring performance efficiency, and everyone's strict compliance with the safety standards and regulatory procedures. Chief engineers manage the distribution of the tasks to the team, communicate with the clients and management for instructions and specifications, monitor expenses and forecast sales reports, analyze and approve designs, negotiate contracts, and process disputes. A chief engineer must have excellent knowledge of the engineering disciplines and exemplary leadership skills to handle the team's performance towards the company's objectives.
Senior manufacturing process engineers and chief engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Manufacturing Process Engineer | Chief Engineer | |
| Average salary | $94,308 | $108,050 |
| Salary range | Between $75,000 And $118,000 | Between $65,000 And $177,000 |
| Highest paying City | Redwood City, CA | Palo Alto, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | PacBio | BGC Partners |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Transportation |
There are a few differences between a senior manufacturing process engineer and a chief engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Manufacturing Process Engineer | Chief Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between senior manufacturing process engineers' and chief engineers' demographics:
| Senior Manufacturing Process Engineer | Chief Engineer | |
| Average age | 42 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 90.5% Female, 9.5% | Male, 96.2% Female, 3.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.5% Asian, 15.5% White, 65.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 3.5% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.9% Asian, 10.2% White, 71.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 5% |