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The differences between senior product development engineers and 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 development engineer and a design engineer. Additionally, a senior product development engineer has an average salary of $98,348, which is higher than the $77,134 average annual salary of a design engineer.
The top three skills for a senior product development engineer include CAD, solidworks and product development. The most important skills for a design engineer are C++, UL, and project management.
| Senior Product Development Engineer | Design Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $98,348 | $77,134 |
| Hourly rate | $47.28 | $37.08 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 195,294 | 138,173 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A product development engineer designs and develops new products in adherence to project goals and guidelines. They primarily perform research and assessments to identify and understand project requirements, select materials, develop drafts, create blueprints and prototypes, establish test structures for quality assurance, and facilitate upgrades as necessary. They can also produce product specifications and provide technical support to staff as necessary. Most product development engineers work in a team environment, which requires an open communication line for an efficient workflow.
A design engineer is responsible for creating systems and applications based on their expertise. Design engineers work through client specifications based on business needs. A design engineer also provides recommendations on improving existing systems to boost its performance and increase efficiency. Design engineers must have an excellent command of computer systems, programming codes, and technical data to ensure the system's stability and high-quality processes. A design engineer should also have strong analytical and time-management skills to perform tasks and meet deadlines.
Senior product development engineers and design engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Product Development Engineer | Design Engineer | |
| Average salary | $98,348 | $77,134 |
| Salary range | Between $76,000 And $126,000 | Between $57,000 And $102,000 |
| Highest paying City | Sunnyvale, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Amazon | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Technology |
There are a few differences between a senior product development engineer and a design engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Product Development Engineer | Design Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between senior product development engineers' and design engineers' demographics:
| Senior Product Development Engineer | Design Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 90.5% Female, 9.5% | Male, 88.9% Female, 11.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 16.5% White, 68.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 8.2% Asian, 16.8% White, 67.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |