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The differences between senior product design engineers and senior mechanical designers 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 senior mechanical designer. Additionally, a senior mechanical designer has an average salary of $103,765, 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 senior mechanical designer are CAD, mechanical design, and GD.
| Senior Product Design Engineer | Senior Mechanical Designer | |
| Yearly salary | $102,291 | $103,765 |
| Hourly rate | $49.18 | $49.89 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 175,933 | 71,958 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 48% |
| 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 Senior Mechanical Designer is responsible for creating effective mechanical designs for their company and developing mechanical concepts in accordance with project requirements. They assist the engineering manager in coaching other mechanical engineers to develop design skills.
Senior product design engineers and senior mechanical designers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Product Design Engineer | Senior Mechanical Designer | |
| Average salary | $102,291 | $103,765 |
| Salary range | Between $79,000 And $131,000 | Between $81,000 And $131,000 |
| Highest paying City | Cupertino, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Mexico | California |
| Best paying company | ||
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Automotive |
There are a few differences between a senior product design engineer and a senior mechanical designer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Product Design Engineer | Senior Mechanical Designer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 48% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Michigan Technological University | Carnegie Mellon University |
Here are the differences between senior product design engineers' and senior mechanical designers' demographics:
| Senior Product Design Engineer | Senior Mechanical Designer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 94.5% Female, 5.5% | Male, 94.1% Female, 5.9% |
| 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, 3.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.3% Asian, 11.4% White, 71.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |