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Senior product engineering manager vs engineering director

The differences between senior product engineering managers and engineering directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes More than 10 years to become both a senior product engineering manager and an engineering director. Additionally, an engineering director has an average salary of $162,252, which is higher than the $140,924 average annual salary of a senior product engineering manager.

The top three skills for a senior product engineering manager include control systems, product management and java. The most important skills for an engineering director are java, architecture, and infrastructure.

Senior product engineering manager vs engineering director overview

Senior Product Engineering ManagerEngineering Director
Yearly salary$140,924$162,252
Hourly rate$67.75$78.01
Growth rate2%2%
Number of jobs148,55863,868
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 66%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Average age4848
Years of experience--

What does a senior product engineering manager do?

The primary tasks of a senior product engineering manager include the design, prototype, authentication, and implementation of new products. Senior product engineering managers the capital plan and budget of the organization. They lead the efforts of technicians and engineers or other team members of the organization to ensure the successful completion of engineering projects. It is expected for them to possess skills and knowledge in project management, product development, application development, and process improvement.

What does an engineering director do?

An engineering director or director of engineering is an individual who manages a team of engineering managers and coordinates all the engineering activities within the organization. Engineering directors work closely with the organization's executives to develop new strategies to reduce unnecessary costs and time to complete their projects. They must understand and interpret complex sets of data such as profits, losses, or value of liabilities to identify problems and come up with solutions. Engineering directors must also ensure that safety protocols are implemented in the workforce.

Senior product engineering manager vs engineering director salary

Senior product engineering managers and engineering directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

Senior Product Engineering ManagerEngineering Director
Average salary$140,924$162,252
Salary rangeBetween $96,000 And $205,000Between $109,000 And $239,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best paying companyRokuBrookfield Properties
Best paying industryAutomotiveTechnology

Differences between senior product engineering manager and engineering director education

There are a few differences between a senior product engineering manager and an engineering director in terms of educational background:

Senior Product Engineering ManagerEngineering Director
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 66%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Most common majorElectrical EngineeringElectrical Engineering
Most common collegeUniversity of Michigan - Ann ArborUniversity of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Senior product engineering manager vs engineering director demographics

Here are the differences between senior product engineering managers' and engineering directors' demographics:

Senior Product Engineering ManagerEngineering Director
Average age4848
Gender ratioMale, 92.5% Female, 7.5%Male, 94.6% Female, 5.4%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 2.7% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.5% Asian, 18.9% White, 66.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 9.1% Asian, 13.1% White, 69.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage9%9%

Differences between senior product engineering manager and engineering director duties and responsibilities

Senior product engineering manager example responsibilities.

  • Manage all internal and BSI external ISO auditing activities.
  • Manage a group of engineers that design semi-custom commercial / industrial HVAC and refrigeration equipment.
  • Maintain engineering documents per ISO procedures.
  • Demonstrate the first commercial implementation of next-generation design software utilizing level-set methods to model and correct manufacturing errors in semiconductor photomasks.
  • Define requirements for divisional SharePoint projects and collaborate on high level design and testing of new software projects.

Engineering director example responsibilities.

  • Monitor and manage performance base on multiple KPI's.
  • Manage all FCC filings for the registration of license frequencies.
  • Improve network reliability and manage signal leakage and FCC compliance.
  • Lead implementation and remediation efforts to ensure HIPPA, SOX, and PCI compliance.
  • Manage a team to develop and support SaaS base access control product for health care industry.
  • Manage release and deployments for multiple, concurrent Java project across varying release cycles from inception to delivery.
  • Show more

Senior product engineering manager vs engineering director skills

Common senior product engineering manager skills
  • Control Systems, 18%
  • Product Management, 9%
  • Java, 5%
  • SR, 5%
  • Product Development, 5%
  • Continuous Improvement, 5%
Common engineering director skills
  • Java, 7%
  • Architecture, 7%
  • Infrastructure, 6%
  • AWS, 5%
  • Project Management, 5%
  • Customer Service, 4%

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