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The differences between senior packaging engineers and packaging managers 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 packaging engineer, becoming a packaging manager takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a packaging manager has an average salary of $109,833, which is higher than the $100,060 average annual salary of a senior packaging engineer.
The top three skills for a senior packaging engineer include project management, package development and FDA. The most important skills for a packaging manager are continuous improvement, project management, and product development.
| Senior Packaging Engineer | Packaging Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $100,060 | $109,833 |
| Hourly rate | $48.11 | $52.80 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 47,700 | 15,737 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 42 | 48 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 2 |
A senior packaging designer specializes in designing and developing cost-effective and functional packaging containers for different goods, such as clothing, toys, electronics, appliances, and more. They conduct extensive market research and assessments to create concepts, understand and identify project requirements, study competitors and consumers, and develop prototypes, subjecting them to different inspections and quality tests to ensure quality. Additionally, as a senior packaging designer, they oversee procedures from planning to execution and empower junior designers while implementing standards and regulations.
A packaging manager is a person whose job is to supervise a packaging operation, usually in a factory or warehouse. You will be responsible for overseeing other employees within the operation and ensuring that goods are packed correctly and in time for distribution. Packaging managers are responsible for proper maintenance of packaging machines, scheduling staff for efficiency, and ensuring the availability of packaging materials and goods to be packaged. Overseeing the recruitment and training of employees for the packaging line is an added role.
Senior packaging engineers and packaging managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Packaging Engineer | Packaging Manager | |
| Average salary | $100,060 | $109,833 |
| Salary range | Between $74,000 And $133,000 | Between $72,000 And $166,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Sunnyvale, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Connecticut |
| Best paying company | Revlon | BP America Inc |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a senior packaging engineer and a packaging manager in terms of educational background:
| Senior Packaging Engineer | Packaging Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Engineering And Industrial Management | Business |
| Most common college | New York University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between senior packaging engineers' and packaging managers' demographics:
| Senior Packaging Engineer | Packaging Manager | |
| Average age | 42 | 48 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 82.4% Female, 17.6% | Male, 75.8% Female, 24.2% |
| Race ratio | 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% | Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 13.2% Asian, 9.2% White, 69.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 8% |