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The differences between supplier development engineers and product support 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 support engineer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a product support engineer has an average salary of $90,379, 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 support engineer are product support, technical support, and troubleshoot.
| Supplier Development Engineer | Product Support Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $89,484 | $90,379 |
| Hourly rate | $43.02 | $43.45 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 88,396 | 201,554 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| 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 support engineer is responsible for resolving technical issues of end-users regarding the products and services offered by the company. Product support engineers conduct troubleshooting operations for system failures and write resolution reports for reference. They also support the product analysts in improving the product's features and processes to prevent the reoccurrence of defects and maintain optimal performance. A product support engineer designs automation procedures and runs multiple diagnostic tests to ensure high-quality outputs and avoid operational delays.
Supplier development engineers and product support engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Supplier Development Engineer | Product Support Engineer | |
| Average salary | $89,484 | $90,379 |
| Salary range | Between $70,000 And $113,000 | Between $67,000 And $121,000 |
| Highest paying City | South San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | California |
| Best paying company | Apple | |
| Best paying industry | Automotive | Technology |
There are a few differences between a supplier development engineer and a product support engineer in terms of educational background:
| Supplier Development Engineer | Product Support Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Business | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between supplier development engineers' and product support engineers' demographics:
| Supplier Development Engineer | Product Support Engineer | |
| Average age | 42 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 81.9% Female, 18.1% | Male, 80.7% Female, 19.3% |
| 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, 3.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 13.0% White, 69.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 5% |