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The differences between senior production engineers and senior staff engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a senior production engineer, becoming a senior staff engineer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a senior staff engineer has an average salary of $136,031, which is higher than the $115,075 average annual salary of a senior production engineer.
The top three skills for a senior production engineer include continuous improvement, technical support and SR. The most important skills for a senior staff engineer are python, java, and architecture.
| Senior Production Engineer | Senior Staff Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $115,075 | $136,031 |
| Hourly rate | $55.32 | $65.40 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 94,542 | 239,752 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 78% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Average age | 42 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 6 |
A senior production engineer supervises and improves plant and factory production. They manage engineering teams, update the manager about various issues, create safety protocols, and draw up strategies to enhance profit and production efficiency. Besides overseeing the production processes and ensuring the engineering teams perform quality work, senior production engineers also work hand-in-hand with other engineers to draw up programs that enhance the required labor, costs, and production. Moreover, these professionals identify, document, and report unsafe practices.
A senior staff engineer is responsible for supervising a team of engineers, chemists, software developers, or molecular biologists. His/Her or her responsibilities include generating Structured Query Language (SQL) performance audit checklist template, creating SQL data query routines and functions for data extraction, and working directly with stakeholders. The job requires strong mechanical, listening, and mathematical skills and proficiency in Python programming language and computer architecture and hardware. The education requirements for the job include a bachelor's or master's degree in electrical engineering, business, mechanical engineering, or a related field.
Senior production engineers and senior staff engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Production Engineer | Senior Staff Engineer | |
| Average salary | $115,075 | $136,031 |
| Salary range | Between $85,000 And $154,000 | Between $95,000 And $194,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Mateo, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Ep Energy | Airbnb |
| Best paying industry | Energy | Telecommunication |
There are a few differences between a senior production engineer and a senior staff engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Production Engineer | Senior Staff Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 78% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | California State Polytechnic University, Pomona |
Here are the differences between senior production engineers' and senior staff engineers' demographics:
| Senior Production Engineer | Senior Staff Engineer | |
| Average age | 42 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 87.8% Female, 12.2% | Male, 78.4% Female, 21.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.6% Asian, 14.9% White, 66.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 16.8% White, 67.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 5% |