Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between sustaining 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 sustaining 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 $88,351 average annual salary of a sustaining engineer.
The top three skills for a sustaining engineer include troubleshoot, lean six sigma and lean manufacturing. The most important skills for a product engineer are CAD, product design, and project management.
| Sustaining Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $88,351 | $89,645 |
| Hourly rate | $42.48 | $43.10 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 57,402 | 157,888 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Average age | 42 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 6 |
A sustaining engineer is responsible for monitoring industrial operations, including the efficiency of processes and the performance of tools and equipment, ensuring high-quality deliverables for business objectives. Sustaining engineers evaluate the safety and security of the operations, strategizing techniques to manage potential hazards that may cause delays in the production. They also work with the management to identify opportunities to maximize productivity and maintain cost-reduction procedures, especially on materials and equipment. A sustaining engineer handles operational issues, as well as assessing incident reports for immediate resolution.
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.
Sustaining engineers and product engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Sustaining Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Average salary | $88,351 | $89,645 |
| Salary range | Between $68,000 And $114,000 | Between $68,000 And $118,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Technology |
There are a few differences between a sustaining engineer and a product engineer in terms of educational background:
| Sustaining Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between sustaining engineers' and product engineers' demographics:
| Sustaining Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Average age | 42 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 87.5% Female, 12.5% | Male, 87.8% Female, 12.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.6% Asian, 15.1% White, 65.9% 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% |