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The differences between senior supplier quality engineers and project lead engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a senior supplier quality engineer and a project lead engineer. Additionally, a project lead engineer has an average salary of $106,946, which is higher than the $91,025 average annual salary of a senior supplier quality engineer.
The top three skills for a senior supplier quality engineer include continuous improvement, sigma and ISO. The most important skills for a project lead engineer are project management, renewable energy, and project execution.
| Senior Supplier Quality Engineer | Project Lead Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $91,025 | $106,946 |
| Hourly rate | $43.76 | $51.42 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 74,475 | 98,018 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A senior supplier quality engineer is in charge of overseeing the delivery of supplies in a company, ensuring its quality and efficiency by designing and developing quality assurance systems and procedures. Their responsibilities include gathering and analyzing data, analyzing existing systems to identify areas needing improvement, and implementing solutions against problem areas. They may also monitor the performance of the suppliers, building positive relationships with them. Furthermore, a senior supplier quality engineer must maintain an active communication line with staff, all while enforcing the company's policies and regulations.
Project lead engineers are engineering professionals who are responsible for leading other professionals in completing a particular project. These engineers must develop a project management framework to be implemented throughout the organization based on the inputs from internal stakeholders and team members. They are required to train junior team members so that they can provide proper technical support functions. Project lead engineers must also prepare and review cost estimates for a variety of projects during bidding, construction, and post-construction phases.
Senior supplier quality engineers and project lead engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Supplier Quality Engineer | Project Lead Engineer | |
| Average salary | $91,025 | $106,946 |
| Salary range | Between $71,000 And $115,000 | Between $78,000 And $146,000 |
| Highest paying City | Mountain View, CA | Cupertino, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Apple | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Automotive |
There are a few differences between a senior supplier quality engineer and a project lead engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Supplier Quality Engineer | Project Lead Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between senior supplier quality engineers' and project lead engineers' demographics:
| Senior Supplier Quality Engineer | Project Lead Engineer | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 86.8% Female, 13.2% | Male, 86.8% Female, 13.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.6% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 11.3% Asian, 13.1% White, 66.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.4% Asian, 15.2% White, 66.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 4% |