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What is a senior product design engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
3 min read
Quoted expert
Marco Schoen Ph.D.

A senior product designer engineer provides engineering and technical direction for the development and implementation of systems required for the development of a product. You are expected to evaluate systems and provide recommendations on system development, improvements, and optimization. Evaluation of the systems might require you to troubleshoot and resolve any issues found.

You are also expected to develop and maintain system documentation and standard operational procedures. Your other responsibilities include conducting benchmarking studies, analyzing product market performance, and providing delivery of excellent product designs that can compete. Remember that your job is to develop processes and systems that will promote customer satisfaction.

The most highly rated skills for this position are CAD, SolidWorks, prototype, GD, and engineering design. Of course, creativity, problem-solving, and math skills also top the charts. The average annual wage is about $90,000. A bachelor's degree in mechanical or electrical engineering, as well as draft or design, will suffice for this role.

What general advice would you give to a senior product design engineer?

Marco Schoen Ph.D.Marco Schoen Ph.D. LinkedIn profile

Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Director of the Measurement and Control Engineering Research Center (MCERC), Idaho State University

Stay current. Engineering evolves continuously; new tools, new technologies, and new areas where engineers can contribute, learn, and work. When graduating, students have the feeling they are set for their careers. However, this is not true; they might be set to start their careers. To be consistently successful in their pages, they need to stay informed and updated.
ScoreSenior Product Design EngineerUS Average
Salary
7.7

Avg. Salary $102,291

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level
7.4

Growth rate 2%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity
6.4
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.11%

Asian 15.40%

Black or African American 3.27%

Hispanic or Latino 8.74%

Unknown 4.56%

White 67.91%

Gender

female 5.54%

male 94.46%

Age - 39
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39
Stress level
7.4

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level
8.6

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance
5.1

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Senior product design engineer career paths

Key steps to become a senior product design engineer

  1. Explore senior product design engineer education requirements

    Most common senior product design engineer degrees

    Bachelor's

    67.6 %

    Master's

    17.9 %

    Associate

    10.7 %
  2. Start to develop specific senior product design engineer skills

    SkillsPercentages
    CAD13.32%
    Solidworks6.92%
    Prototype6.29%
    GD6.02%
    FEA5.68%
  3. Complete relevant senior product design engineer training and internships

    Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New senior product design engineers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a senior product design engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real senior product design engineer resumes.
  4. Research senior product design engineer duties and responsibilities

    • Manage getting mechanisms test and approve by UL as well as ongoing UL compliance.
    • Manage multiple projects from conceptual design and prototyping through production release.
    • Manage the manufacturing of defense and aerospace electro-mechanical print circuit boards from prototype to production level.
    • Comply with Bruker ISO and FDA requirements
  5. Get senior product design engineer experience

    Generally, it takes 4-6 years to become a senior product design engineer. The most common roles before becoming a senior product design engineer include design engineer, product design engineer team lead and senior design engineer.
  6. Prepare your senior product design engineer resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior product design engineer resume.

    You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a senior product design engineer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

    Choose from 10+ customizable senior product design engineer resume templates

    Build a professional senior product design engineer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your senior product design engineer resume.
    Senior Product Design Engineer Resume
    Senior Product Design Engineer Resume
    Senior Product Design Engineer Resume
    Senior Product Design Engineer Resume
    Senior Product Design Engineer Resume
    Senior Product Design Engineer Resume
    Senior Product Design Engineer Resume
    Senior Product Design Engineer Resume
    Senior Product Design Engineer Resume
  7. Apply for senior product design engineer jobs

    Now it's time to start searching for a senior product design engineer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

    1. Browse job boards for relevant postings
    2. Consult your professional network
    3. Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
    4. Watch out for job scams

How did you land your first senior product design engineer job

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Average senior product design engineer salary

The average senior product design engineer salary in the United States is $102,291 per year or $49 per hour. Senior product design engineer salaries range between $79,000 and $131,000 per year.

Average senior product design engineer salary
$102,291 Yearly
$49.18 hourly

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Senior product design engineer reviews

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A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2023
Pros

It can gurantee you a good salary and if you are creative you can do many things.

Cons

you have to be creative.


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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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