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The differences between senior piping designers and chief engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a senior piping designer and a chief engineer. Additionally, a senior piping designer has an average salary of $130,020, which is higher than the $108,050 average annual salary of a chief engineer.
The top three skills for a senior piping designer include autocad, equipment layout and refinery. The most important skills for a chief engineer are HVAC, plumbing, and customer service.
| Senior Piping Designer | Chief Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $130,020 | $108,050 |
| Hourly rate | $62.51 | $51.95 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 65,865 | 88,473 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 56% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A Senior Piping Designer is responsible for the scoping and technical execution of the piping design. They manage and supervise all aspects and details of the piping design.
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 piping designers and chief engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Piping Designer | Chief Engineer | |
| Average salary | $130,020 | $108,050 |
| Salary range | Between $94,000 And $179,000 | Between $65,000 And $177,000 |
| Highest paying City | Bellevue, WA | Palo Alto, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | California |
| Best paying company | Amec Foster Wheeler | BGC Partners |
| Best paying industry | Energy | Transportation |
There are a few differences between a senior piping designer and a chief engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Piping Designer | Chief Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 56% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Most common major | Drafting And Design | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Michigan Technological University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between senior piping designers' and chief engineers' demographics:
| Senior Piping Designer | Chief Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 93.8% Female, 6.2% | Male, 96.2% Female, 3.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.2% Asian, 10.4% White, 72.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | 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 | 5% | 5% |