Both project managers and project engineers are in positions of middle to upper management. While both require leadership and organizational skills, the ins and outs of their daily work differ substantially. A project manager must tackle financial and personnel issues. That includes purchasing, invoices, and hiring. A project engineer is a bit more involved in the daily tasks. You can think of a project engineer as the hands-on coordinator, while a project manager makes sure everything runs smoothly. It’s more of an overhead position.