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The differences between senior product development engineers 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 development engineer and a product engineer. Additionally, a senior product development engineer has an average salary of $98,348, which is higher than the $89,645 average annual salary of a product engineer.
The top three skills for a senior product development engineer include CAD, solidworks and product development. The most important skills for a product engineer are CAD, product design, and project management.
| Senior Product Development Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $98,348 | $89,645 |
| Hourly rate | $47.28 | $43.10 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 195,294 | 157,888 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| 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 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 development engineers and product engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Product Development Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Average salary | $98,348 | $89,645 |
| Salary range | Between $76,000 And $126,000 | Between $68,000 And $118,000 |
| 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 product engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Product Development Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| 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 product engineers' demographics:
| Senior Product Development Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 90.5% Female, 9.5% | Male, 87.8% Female, 12.2% |
| 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, 3.1% 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% |