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The differences between supplier development engineers and quality 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 supplier development engineer and a quality engineer. Additionally, a supplier development engineer has an average salary of $89,484, which is higher than the $79,672 average annual salary of a quality engineer.
The top three skills for a supplier development engineer include supplier development, supply chain and sigma. The most important skills for a quality engineer are corrective action, continuous improvement, and ISO.
| Supplier Development Engineer | Quality Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $89,484 | $79,672 |
| Hourly rate | $43.02 | $38.30 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 88,396 | 96,838 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 70% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
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 quality engineer's responsibilities include ensuring that the manufacturing processes are efficient and accurate, documenting findings that would raise concerns, conducting quality tests while observing parameters, and implementing changes as necessary to meet the highest quality standards. Quality engineers need to have excellent problem-solving and observation skills to detect any irregularities and possible malfunctions. They also must be able to communicate effectively with the clients for feedbacks and corrective adjustments, address complaints, and immediately resolve any inconsistencies made.
Supplier development engineers and quality engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Supplier Development Engineer | Quality Engineer | |
| Average salary | $89,484 | $79,672 |
| Salary range | Between $70,000 And $113,000 | Between $61,000 And $103,000 |
| Highest paying City | South San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Washington |
| Best paying company | Meta | |
| Best paying industry | Automotive | Technology |
There are a few differences between a supplier development engineer and a quality engineer in terms of educational background:
| Supplier Development Engineer | Quality Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 70% |
| Most common major | Business | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between supplier development engineers' and quality engineers' demographics:
| Supplier Development Engineer | Quality Engineer | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 81.9% Female, 18.1% | Male, 78.2% Female, 21.8% |
| 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, 4.7% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 11.5% Asian, 13.9% White, 65.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 4% |