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The differences between senior research engineers and chief 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 research engineer and a chief engineer. Additionally, a senior research engineer has an average salary of $115,047, which is higher than the $108,050 average annual salary of a chief engineer.
The top three skills for a senior research engineer include python, java and project management. The most important skills for a chief engineer are HVAC, plumbing, and customer service.
| Senior Research Engineer | Chief Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $115,047 | $108,050 |
| Hourly rate | $55.31 | $51.95 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 120,798 | 88,473 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 59% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A Senior Research Engineer leads a team of engineers to develop and implement innovative products and technologies. They also provide training and technical support.
A chief engineer is responsible for monitoring the engineering department's overall operations, ensuring performance efficiency, and everyone's strict compliance with the safety standards and regulatory procedures. Chief engineers manage the distribution of the tasks to the team, communicate with the clients and management for instructions and specifications, monitor expenses and forecast sales reports, analyze and approve designs, negotiate contracts, and process disputes. A chief engineer must have excellent knowledge of the engineering disciplines and exemplary leadership skills to handle the team's performance towards the company's objectives.
Senior research engineers and chief engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Research Engineer | Chief Engineer | |
| Average salary | $115,047 | $108,050 |
| Salary range | Between $87,000 And $151,000 | Between $65,000 And $177,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Palo Alto, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Netflix | BGC Partners |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Transportation |
There are a few differences between a senior research engineer and a chief engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Research Engineer | Chief Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 59% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between senior research engineers' and chief engineers' demographics:
| Senior Research Engineer | Chief Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 88.8% Female, 11.2% | Male, 96.2% Female, 3.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 17.0% White, 67.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 3.5% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.9% Asian, 10.2% White, 71.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |