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The differences between senior product designers and product 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 designer and a product engineer. Additionally, a senior product designer has an average salary of $120,587, which is higher than the $89,645 average annual salary of a product engineer.
The top three skills for a senior product designer include sketch, user research and user experience. The most important skills for a product engineer are CAD, product design, and project management.
| Senior Product Designer | Product Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $120,587 | $89,645 |
| Hourly rate | $57.97 | $43.10 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 121,037 | 157,888 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A senior product designer is responsible for coordinating with clients to identify their requirements and specifications for the development of new products and services that also comply with the company's regulations and functions. Senior product designers work with a whole project management team to identify opportunities that would generate more revenue resources by analyzing public demands on industry trends. They handle the allocation of materials and must be able to utilize digital tools and equipment to create content for brand awareness on different media platforms. A senior product designer reviews consumers' reviews to facilitate any adjustments with the product's features.
A product engineer specializes in designing and developing commercial materials and services. They are primarily responsible for conducting thorough research and analysis of the latest trends and marketing conditions to come up with new ideas and products for the public. Moreover, they are also responsible for producing reports and presentations, coordinating with the development team of their company. Product engineers also reach out to vendors and suppliers for the raw materials, set regulations and standards for the product, and even conduct a rigorous and regular quality check.
Senior product designers and product engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Product Designer | Product Engineer | |
| Average salary | $120,587 | $89,645 |
| Salary range | Between $87,000 And $165,000 | Between $68,000 And $118,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | ByteDance | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Start-up | Technology |
There are a few differences between a senior product designer and a product engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Product Designer | Product Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Most common major | Graphic Design | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Carnegie Mellon University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between senior product designers' and product engineers' demographics:
| Senior Product Designer | Product Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 81.4% Female, 18.6% | Male, 87.8% Female, 12.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.5% Asian, 10.3% White, 72.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 17.0% White, 67.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |