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The differences between senior project engineers and project managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a senior project engineer has an average salary of $97,803, which is higher than the $91,578 average annual salary of a project manager.
The top three skills for a senior project engineer include project management, construction management and CAD. The most important skills for a project manager are project management, project scope, and customer service.
| Senior Project Engineer | Project Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $97,803 | $91,578 |
| Hourly rate | $47.02 | $44.03 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 146,838 | 167,116 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4.17 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 76% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 41 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 6 | - |
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.
Project managers oversee a specific project related to the organization's business. They manage the whole project from inception to evaluation. They initiate planning with involved departments, follow-through on the plans, ensure smooth execution of the plans, and evaluate the project for further improvements should these be needed. In line with this, project managers also ensure that the project is cost-efficient and well within the budget. They also manage the different work teams involved in the project and ensure that things are running smoothly on this aspect as well.
Senior project engineers and project managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Project Engineer | Project Manager | |
| Average salary | $97,803 | $91,578 |
| Salary range | Between $77,000 And $124,000 | Between $64,000 And $129,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Maryland | California |
| Best paying company | Amazon | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Automotive | Technology |
There are a few differences between a senior project engineer and a project manager in terms of educational background:
| Senior Project Engineer | Project Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 76% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Business |
| Most common college | Michigan Technological University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between senior project engineers' and project managers' demographics:
| Senior Project Engineer | Project Manager | |
| Average age | 41 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 84.4% Female, 15.6% | Male, 68.9% Female, 31.1% |
| Race ratio | 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% | Black or African American, 7.7% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.9% Asian, 9.0% White, 65.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 10% |