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The differences between senior staff engineers and system design engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a senior staff engineer, becoming a system design engineer takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a senior staff engineer has an average salary of $136,031, which is higher than the $107,704 average annual salary of a system design engineer.
The top three skills for a senior staff engineer include python, java and architecture. The most important skills for a system design engineer are system design, architecture, and MATLAB.
| Senior Staff Engineer | System Design Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $136,031 | $107,704 |
| Hourly rate | $65.40 | $51.78 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 239,752 | 113,582 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 70% |
| Average age | 41 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 2 |
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.
A system design engineer is an individual who participates in system design engineering and resolves manufacturing and service problems. System design engineers are required to collaborate with the system design team to research emerging technologies and develop new capabilities. They create design layouts by utilizing the use of CAD software such as AutoCad as well as supervise a group of CAD technicians. System design engineers must also provide customer service in the field and deliver individualized problem solving and system design support
Senior staff engineers and system design engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Staff Engineer | System Design Engineer | |
| Average salary | $136,031 | $107,704 |
| Salary range | Between $95,000 And $194,000 | Between $77,000 And $149,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Mateo, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Airbnb | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Telecommunication | Automotive |
There are a few differences between a senior staff engineer and a system design engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Staff Engineer | System Design Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 70% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | California State Polytechnic University, Pomona | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between senior staff engineers' and system design engineers' demographics:
| Senior Staff Engineer | System Design Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 78.4% Female, 21.6% | Male, 91.2% Female, 8.8% |
| Race ratio | 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% | Black or African American, 4.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.4% Asian, 15.4% White, 63.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 6% |