Senior product design engineer vs senior mechanical engineer

The differences between senior product design engineers and senior mechanical 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 senior mechanical engineer. Additionally, a senior mechanical engineer has an average salary of $103,836, 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 engineer are mechanical engineering, CAD, and solidworks.

Senior product design engineer vs senior mechanical engineer overview

	Senior Product Design Engineer	Senior Mechanical Engineer
Yearly salary	$102,291	$103,836
Hourly rate	$49.18	$49.92
Growth rate	2%	2%
Number of jobs	175,933	98,063
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 68%	Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Average age	41	41
Years of experience	6	6

What does a senior product design engineer do?

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.

What does a senior mechanical engineer do?

A senior mechanical engineer is responsible for designing and improving mechanical equipment, as well as industrial devices and machinery. Senior mechanical engineers verify the materials and resources, ensuring that the processes meet the budget goals from clients' specifications and requirements. They also monitor the manufacturing process, developing strategic procedures for operations improvement, and maximizing staff productivity. A senior mechanical engineer runs multiple diagnostic tests to guarantee the stability and efficiency of the item and coordinating with the client for any plan adjustments as needed.

Senior product design engineer vs senior mechanical engineer salary

Senior product design engineers and senior mechanical engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Senior Product Design Engineer	Senior Mechanical Engineer
Average salary	$102,291	$103,836
Salary range	Between $79,000 And $131,000	Between $79,000 And $136,000
Highest paying City	Cupertino, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	New Mexico	Washington
Best paying company	Google	Google
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Energy

Differences between senior product design engineer and senior mechanical engineer education

There are a few differences between a senior product design engineer and a senior mechanical engineer in terms of educational background:

	Senior Product Design Engineer	Senior Mechanical 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

Senior product design engineer vs senior mechanical engineer demographics

Here are the differences between senior product design engineers' and senior mechanical engineers' demographics:

	Senior Product Design Engineer	Senior Mechanical Engineer
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 94.5% Female, 5.5%	Male, 94.2% Female, 5.8%
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, 3.2% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 8.3% Asian, 15.8% White, 68.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage	5%	5%

Differences between senior product design engineer and senior mechanical engineer duties and responsibilities

Senior product design engineer example 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
Engineer based on FEA and CAE analysis.
Serve as group lead for static and modal FEA.

Senior mechanical engineer example responsibilities.

Create DFMEA documents to help manage risks and improve initial quality.
Set up and manage PCB manufacturing including all chemical baths, lasers, and exposure equipment.
Restructure VHDL code and chip/module hierarchy to achieve timing goals for the dual cache controller and the chip.
Achieve timely convergence of complex designs by building RTL models from validation area and integrating them, before official model release.
Lead FPGA development of key digital communication component used in successful demonstration of spacecraft radio link.
Provide mechanical design and sustaining engineering expertise to troubleshoot manufacturing defect trends and achieve a more robust and producible product.

Senior product design engineer vs senior mechanical engineer skills

Common senior product design engineer skills

CAD, 13%
Solidworks, 7%
Prototype, 6%
GD, 6%
FEA, 6%
Prototyping, 4%

Common senior mechanical engineer skills

Mechanical Engineering, 15%
CAD, 7%
Solidworks, 7%
Mechanical Design, 5%
Mechanical Systems, 5%
HVAC, 4%

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Senior Product Design Engineer
Senior Product Design Engineer vs Senior Mechanical Engineer

Updated January 8, 2025

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