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The differences between supplier development engineers and product engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a supplier development engineer, becoming a product engineer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a product engineer has an average salary of $89,645, which is higher than the $89,484 average annual salary of a supplier development engineer.
The top three skills for a supplier development engineer include supplier development, supply chain and sigma. The most important skills for a product engineer are CAD, product design, and project management.
| Supplier Development Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $89,484 | $89,645 |
| Hourly rate | $43.02 | $43.10 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 88,396 | 157,888 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Average age | 42 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 6 |
The job of a supplier development engineer is to source, negotiate, and buy goods, services, and materials in order to meet an organization's operational requirements. You will supervise teams in developing new supply sources to improve the company's cost competitiveness. Typical duties include researching entrepreneurial companies to identify potential suppliers and sources, assessing new and existing supplier capabilities to meet cost, product, capacity, and quality, and driving improvements using lean methodologies. You will also perform benchmarking studies to determine future trends and best practices.
A product engineer specializes in designing and developing commercial materials and services. They are primarily responsible for conducting thorough research and analysis of the latest trends and marketing conditions to come up with new ideas and products for the public. Moreover, they are also responsible for producing reports and presentations, coordinating with the development team of their company. Product engineers also reach out to vendors and suppliers for the raw materials, set regulations and standards for the product, and even conduct a rigorous and regular quality check.
Supplier development engineers and product engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Supplier Development Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Average salary | $89,484 | $89,645 |
| Salary range | Between $70,000 And $113,000 | Between $68,000 And $118,000 |
| Highest paying City | South San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | |
| Best paying industry | Automotive | Technology |
There are a few differences between a supplier development engineer and a product engineer in terms of educational background:
| Supplier Development Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Most common major | Business | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between supplier development engineers' and product engineers' demographics:
| Supplier Development Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Average age | 42 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 81.9% Female, 18.1% | Male, 87.8% Female, 12.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.7% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 11.6% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | 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% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 5% |