Engineering job titles 4

[Plasmech]

Hope this is the right forum for this...

What is the difference between the following engineering job titles:

1. Lead Engineer
2. Head Engineer
3. Senior Engineer

Is there any difference at all?

We're trying to establish some job titles and having a bit of difficulty.

-Plasmech

Mechanical Engineer, Plastics Industry

 

[monkeydog]

I thought the custodian was the Head Engineer.

 

[KENAT]

Only on Naval bases and Dockyards etc.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

 

[IRstuff]

Don't forget the Marines...

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[swertel]

I'm in AZ and it specifically reserves
"P.E."
"PE"
and I think a third derivation to designation Professional Engineer. Thus the reason I had a quick memo to educate my coworkers to stop using it. Apparently, I'm going to have to expand that to a corporate memo and include class training as well.

--Scott

http://wertel.eng.pro

 

[Plasmech]

I thought the techs and service guys were the head engineers...

-Plasmech

Mechanical Engineer, Plastics Industry

 

[KENAT]

Swertel, don't forget the trouble shooting guide and help desk number as well;-).

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

 

[swertel]

I'll get write on those.

Perhaps a guest speaker from the AZ Board of Technical Registration would also help - along with sponsored legal counsel.

--Scott

http://wertel.eng.pro

 

[jistre]

Hmm. If you taught a class on it, swertel, I bet it would count for your professional ethics PDH requirements, wouldn't it?

SCORE!

 

[TenPenny]

'head engineer' sounds like what we called some of our classmates back in the day....but we won't go there on a family channel.

 

[swertel]

I gotta stop this side thread. Starting to get a little too funny I nearly messed my keyboard. PD ethics hours, too funny.

All companies should be full of license ignorance. I could make a career out of it.

--Scott

http://wertel.eng.pro

 

[fcsuper]

I disagree with the consensus regarding Sr. Engineer. They get paid a lot more than someone without the title. This is all classified under Radford and other position classification systems. It is part of a highly structured list of career path positions.

Matt Lorono
CAD Engineer/ECN Analyst
Silicon Valley, CA
Lorono's SolidWorks Resources
Co-moderator of Solidworks Yahoo! Group
and Mechnical.Engineering Yahoo! Group

 

[KENAT]

Radford, that's the organization I was talking about above, I always forget the name.

If you play by the Radford rules then yeah, 'Senior Engineer' means something.

However, a lot, perhaps most' places don't play by those rules. In this case the title only has meaning at that company, if even then.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

 

[Plasmech]

Where can I find information on this Radford system? Sounds interesting.



-Plasmech

Mechanical Engineer, Plastics Industry

 

[KENAT]

I once found something with Google but can't see it now.

Like I said the job categories on salary.com seem to follow the Radford system.

Ask HR, although they may not want you to know!

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

 

[IRstuff]

If you're in a big enough company, HR should have their equivalent of salary.com's job categories and rankings. Boeing, for example, had something like 6 levels of engineering ranks, each with its own generic job descriptions and experience requirements.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[Plasmech]

We ain't big

70 people, "thereabouts".

-Plasmech

Mechanical Engineer, Plastics Industry

 

[IRstuff]

Even so, HR people tend to be quite collusive and tehy trade such information around.

At 70 people, there are enough bodies that HR will need to keep stuff straight, about salary ranges, and the job categories that go with that.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[Dinosaur]

Sorry, but I didn't have time to read the whole thread. I will offer a list of job titles I am accostomed to using in my area.

Assistent Engineer I - with BS but <2 yrs exp and/or no EIT
Assistent Engineer II - With 2+ yrs and EIT
Engineer - with PE
Senior Engineer - PE with 8+ years
Project Engineer - usually 12+ years, & most senior engineer doing calcs on project
Project manager - usually 12+ years & senior most engineer on project
Department Manager - Boss of all projects in his discipline
Office Manager - Boss of the profit center (may also be a VP)
Vice President, ...

 

[Ron]

Since there is not consensus on engineering titles, they only mean what your company wants them to mean. They usually designate a pecking order within a company or (preferably) some internal quality assurance process.

Be careful with titles where the licensing laws prohibit the use of some titles by non-licensed individuals.

 

[TenPenny]

In my experience, a 'project engineer' is a simply an engineer in the project engineering dept, as opposed to, say, maintenance engineering dept, or production engineering dept.

'Office Manager' is usually the person responsible for the day to day running of the office - ie, supervising the clerical staff, looking after the photocopiers, stationery, mail, etc. Nothing to do with engineering whatsoever.