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Senior project engineer vs project manager

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 vs project manager overview

Senior Project EngineerProject Manager
Yearly salary$97,803$91,578
Hourly rate$47.02$44.03
Growth rate2%8%
Number of jobs146,838167,116
Job satisfaction-4.17
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 76%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Average age4147
Years of experience6-

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.

What does a project manager do?

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 engineer vs project manager salary

Senior project engineers and project managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Senior Project EngineerProject Manager
Average salary$97,803$91,578
Salary rangeBetween $77,000 And $124,000Between $64,000 And $129,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateMarylandCalifornia
Best paying companyAmazonThe Citadel
Best paying industryAutomotiveTechnology

Differences between senior project engineer and project manager education

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

Senior Project EngineerProject Manager
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 76%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Most common majorMechanical EngineeringBusiness
Most common collegeMichigan Technological UniversityUniversity of Pennsylvania

Senior project engineer vs project manager demographics

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

Senior Project EngineerProject Manager
Average age4147
Gender ratioMale, 84.4% Female, 15.6%Male, 68.9% Female, 31.1%
Race ratioBlack 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 Percentage5%10%

Differences between senior project engineer and project manager duties and responsibilities

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

Project manager example responsibilities.

  • Schedule and manage the GCP audit process.
  • Define, develop and manage metrics and KPIs systems for new product business group.
  • Manage the application process for the FDA medical device, minority and small business certifications.
  • Manage multiple projects and resources simultaneously while mentoring, coaching and implementing best practices, SOX and HIPAA compliance standards.
  • Lead teams using the Informatica ETL tool for the design and development of multiple financial and risk enterprise data warehouses.
  • Administer and manage Salesforce requirements.
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Senior project engineer vs project manager skills

Common senior project engineer skills
  • Project Management, 16%
  • Construction Management, 4%
  • CAD, 4%
  • UL, 4%
  • Engineering Design, 3%
  • Cost Estimates, 3%
Common project manager skills
  • Project Management, 23%
  • Project Scope, 6%
  • Customer Service, 6%
  • Infrastructure, 5%
  • Status Reports, 4%
  • Risk Management, 3%

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