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The differences between staff engineers and requirements 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 staff engineer, becoming a requirements engineer takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a staff engineer has an average salary of $107,530, which is higher than the $87,170 average annual salary of a requirements engineer.
The top three skills for a staff engineer include java, python and architecture. The most important skills for a requirements engineer are java, software development, and powerpoint.
| Staff Engineer | Requirements Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $107,530 | $87,170 |
| Hourly rate | $51.70 | $41.91 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 21% |
| Number of jobs | 277,011 | 166,444 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Average age | 41 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 4 |
Staff engineers are responsible for designing, developing, and inspecting various products, equipment, or structures. These professionals may perform varied duties depending on their specialization that includes overseeing the design and construction of buildings, bridges, sewer systems, and other infrastructure, estimating the financial costs of construction projects, and ensuring compliance with health and safety laws and regulations. Other duties include designing and developing machinery, tools, and engines, solving design problems, and building the manufacturing equipment needed to create their products.
Requirements engineers are responsible for the analysis, documentation, coordination, and management of requirements regarding new software projects. They identify and understand the customer's project-specific demands and document them in a clear and binding way. Their duties and responsibilities also include preparing well-written and detailed documentation of the project and ensuring the project is designed and built within the legal parameters.
Staff engineers and requirements engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Staff Engineer | Requirements Engineer | |
| Average salary | $107,530 | $87,170 |
| Salary range | Between $69,000 And $167,000 | Between $62,000 And $120,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Mateo, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Flexport | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Telecommunication | Technology |
There are a few differences between a staff engineer and a requirements engineer in terms of educational background:
| Staff Engineer | Requirements Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between staff engineers' and requirements engineers' demographics:
| Staff Engineer | Requirements Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 87.9% Female, 12.1% | Male, 64.5% Female, 35.5% |
| 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, 4.6% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.3% Asian, 29.8% White, 52.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 8% |