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Senior product development engineer vs senior project engineer

The differences between senior product development engineers and senior project 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 senior project engineer. Additionally, a senior product development engineer has an average salary of $98,348, which is higher than the $97,803 average annual salary of a senior project engineer.

The top three skills for a senior product development engineer include CAD, solidworks and product development. The most important skills for a senior project engineer are project management, construction management, and CAD.

Senior product development engineer vs senior project engineer overview

Senior Product Development EngineerSenior Project Engineer
Yearly salary$98,348$97,803
Hourly rate$47.28$47.02
Growth rate2%2%
Number of jobs195,294146,838
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 72%Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Average age4141
Years of experience66

What does a senior product development engineer do?

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.

What does a senior project engineer do?

A senior project engineer is responsible for monitoring the project team's overall process and operations from conceptualization until completion, ensuring the adherence to the clients' specifications, within the budget's goals, and the required deadline. Senior project engineers regularly communicate with the client regarding updates or necessary adjustments. They develop strategic procedures to finish the project efficiently by running diagnostic tests and troubleshooting discrepancies. A senior project engineer must have excellent communication and leadership skills to handle the team's performance and provide assistance when necessary.

Senior product development engineer vs senior project engineer salary

Senior product development engineers and senior project engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Senior Product Development EngineerSenior Project Engineer
Average salary$98,348$97,803
Salary rangeBetween $76,000 And $126,000Between $77,000 And $124,000
Highest paying CitySunnyvale, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaMaryland
Best paying companyAmazonAmazon
Best paying industryFinanceAutomotive

Differences between senior product development engineer and senior project engineer education

There are a few differences between a senior product development engineer and a senior project engineer in terms of educational background:

Senior Product Development EngineerSenior Project Engineer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 72%Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Most common majorMechanical EngineeringMechanical Engineering
Most common collegeNorthwestern UniversityMichigan Technological University

Senior product development engineer vs senior project engineer demographics

Here are the differences between senior product development engineers' and senior project engineers' demographics:

Senior Product Development EngineerSenior Project Engineer
Average age4141
Gender ratioMale, 90.5% Female, 9.5%Male, 84.4% Female, 15.6%
Race ratioBlack 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, 8.4% Asian, 14.8% White, 69.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage5%5%

Differences between senior product development engineer and senior project engineer duties and responsibilities

Senior product development engineer example responsibilities.

  • Manage the manufacturing of defense and aerospace electro-mechanical print circuit boards from prototype to production level.
  • Create solid model concepts, mold flow simulations and structural finite element analysis FEA culminating into complete product assemblies using SolidWorks.
  • Design PC base units with windows like graphical interface that link to main VME system for monitoring and control.
  • Conceptualize and modele new product designs with SolidWorks.
  • Design and fabrication of fixtures and tooling for testing of prototype and production electronic manual transmissions and individual sub-component assemblies.
  • Develop testing procedures and processes to troubleshoot and eliminate problems in production, increasing efficiency and reducing product rework.

Senior project engineer example responsibilities.

  • Manage offshore-onsite deliveries in the SharePoint, .Net, EMC Documentum environments and best practices.
  • Design and manage a quality management system for the company's dealer franchise network so dealers can become ISO certify.
  • Lead development of PC software design to enhance dealer sales effectiveness and ability to demonstrate superior product value for the customer.
  • Design and manage retrofits for HVAC system and fire protection program for nuclear pharmaceutical manufacturing facility.
  • Manage multiple crews for installation, implementation and service of RF and telecommunications systems throughout Florida.
  • Manage the manufacturing of defense and aerospace electro-mechanical print circuit boards from prototype to production level.
  • Show more

Senior product development engineer vs senior project engineer skills

Common senior product development engineer skills
  • CAD, 7%
  • Solidworks, 7%
  • Product Development, 6%
  • Product Design, 5%
  • Medical Devices, 5%
  • Project Management, 4%
Common senior project engineer skills
  • Project Management, 16%
  • Construction Management, 4%
  • CAD, 4%
  • UL, 4%
  • Engineering Design, 3%
  • Cost Estimates, 3%

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