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The differences between senior product development engineers and senior manufacturing 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 development engineer, becoming a senior manufacturing engineer takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a senior product development engineer has an average salary of $98,348, which is higher than the $93,853 average annual salary of a senior manufacturing engineer.
The top three skills for a senior product development engineer include CAD, solidworks and product development. The most important skills for a senior manufacturing engineer are lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, and sigma.
| Senior Product Development Engineer | Senior Manufacturing Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $98,348 | $93,853 |
| Hourly rate | $47.28 | $45.12 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 195,294 | 97,154 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Average age | 41 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 2 |
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 Senior Manufacturing Engineer works in a company's production operations and is responsible for developing and improving manufacturing processes. They analyze and propose solutions to engineering problems.
Senior product development engineers and senior manufacturing engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Product Development Engineer | Senior Manufacturing Engineer | |
| Average salary | $98,348 | $93,853 |
| Salary range | Between $76,000 And $126,000 | Between $71,000 And $123,000 |
| Highest paying City | Sunnyvale, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Amazon | |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Automotive |
There are a few differences between a senior product development engineer and a senior manufacturing engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Product Development Engineer | Senior Manufacturing Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between senior product development engineers' and senior manufacturing engineers' demographics:
| Senior Product Development Engineer | Senior Manufacturing Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 90.5% Female, 9.5% | Male, 92.6% Female, 7.4% |
| 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, 4.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 10.6% Asian, 17.1% White, 63.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |