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The differences between senior product design engineers and lead design 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 product design engineer and a lead design engineer. Additionally, a lead design engineer has an average salary of $108,490, which is higher than the $102,291 average annual salary of a senior product design engineer.
The top three skills for a senior product design engineer include CAD, solidworks and prototype. The most important skills for a lead design engineer are CAD, project management, and lead design.
| Senior Product Design Engineer | Lead Design Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $102,291 | $108,490 |
| Hourly rate | $49.18 | $52.16 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 175,933 | 118,073 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A senior product design engineer oversees system development, developing processes, and methodologies geared at promoting customer satisfaction. They are charged with analyzing and directing recommendations for resolving problems to fulfill client expectations. Their responsibilities include planning projects, conducting standard functional analysis of products to translate customer specification into product performance criteria, conducting benchmarking studies, and analyzing products' market performance to facilitate competitive delivery of designs.
A Lead Design Engineer produces design solutions that can be purchased, installed, and commissioned effectively. They are also responsible for the cost-effectiviness and safety of new designs.
Senior product design engineers and lead design engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Product Design Engineer | Lead Design Engineer | |
| Average salary | $102,291 | $108,490 |
| Salary range | Between $79,000 And $131,000 | Between $82,000 And $143,000 |
| Highest paying City | Cupertino, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Mexico | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Agriculture |
There are a few differences between a senior product design engineer and a lead design engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Product Design Engineer | Lead Design Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Michigan Technological University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between senior product design engineers' and lead design engineers' demographics:
| Senior Product Design Engineer | Lead Design Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 94.5% Female, 5.5% | Male, 90.9% Female, 9.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.3% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 15.4% White, 67.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 3.3% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 8.9% Asian, 15.5% White, 67.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |