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The differences between staff design engineers and senior 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 staff design engineer and a senior engineer. Additionally, a staff design engineer has an average salary of $128,071, which is higher than the $108,743 average annual salary of a senior engineer.
The top three skills for a staff design engineer include architecture, RF and CAD. The most important skills for a senior engineer are java, python, and architecture.
| Staff Design Engineer | Senior Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $128,071 | $108,743 |
| Hourly rate | $61.57 | $52.28 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 154,963 | 343,200 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 45 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
Staff design engineers are tasked to assess the efficiency of instruments, technologies, and equipment by collaborating with the engineering team to plan, design, and develop technologies efficiently. Their responsibilities include building and setting up, as wells as improving systems and procedures. They should possess strong attention to detail, good visual and spatial awareness, creativity, problem-solving, excellent verbal, written, and project management skills, and strong mathematical and IT skills to become efficient and effective staff design engineers.
A senior engineer is responsible for overseeing all operations within a designated area. With years of experience and expertise, a senior engineer may take charge of establishing goals, deadlines, and budgets for a particular project. They must devise and implement strategies that would improve the quality of workflow and deliver significant results. Furthermore, a senior manager must also supervise a team of skilled engineers, leading them in the joint effort to reach the company's vision and mission, all while adhering to the safety standards and regulations.
Staff design engineers and senior engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Staff Design Engineer | Senior Engineer | |
| Average salary | $128,071 | $108,743 |
| Salary range | Between $89,000 And $182,000 | Between $82,000 And $144,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Mateo, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | HBO | Roku |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Start-up |
There are a few differences between a staff design engineer and a senior engineer in terms of educational background:
| Staff Design Engineer | Senior Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northeastern University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between staff design engineers' and senior engineers' demographics:
| Staff Design Engineer | Senior Engineer | |
| Average age | 45 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 75.7% Female, 24.3% | Male, 89.1% Female, 10.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.7% Asian, 23.8% White, 57.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 17.1% White, 67.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 5% |