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The differences between senior product design engineers and system design engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a senior product design engineer, becoming a system design engineer takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a system design engineer has an average salary of $107,704, 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 system design engineer are system design, architecture, and MATLAB.
| Senior Product Design Engineer | System Design Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $102,291 | $107,704 |
| Hourly rate | $49.18 | $51.78 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 175,933 | 113,582 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 70% |
| Average age | 41 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 2 |
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 system design engineer is an individual who participates in system design engineering and resolves manufacturing and service problems. System design engineers are required to collaborate with the system design team to research emerging technologies and develop new capabilities. They create design layouts by utilizing the use of CAD software such as AutoCad as well as supervise a group of CAD technicians. System design engineers must also provide customer service in the field and deliver individualized problem solving and system design support
Senior product design engineers and system design engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Product Design Engineer | System Design Engineer | |
| Average salary | $102,291 | $107,704 |
| Salary range | Between $79,000 And $131,000 | Between $77,000 And $149,000 |
| Highest paying City | Cupertino, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Mexico | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Automotive |
There are a few differences between a senior product design engineer and a system design engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Product Design Engineer | System Design Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 70% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Michigan Technological University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between senior product design engineers' and system design engineers' demographics:
| Senior Product Design Engineer | System Design Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 94.5% Female, 5.5% | Male, 91.2% Female, 8.8% |
| 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, 4.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.4% Asian, 15.4% White, 63.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 6% |