What does a principal design engineer do?
A principal design engineer is responsible for designing and managing manufacturing automation, renewable and solar systems integration engineering projects, and energy reduction projects. You will oversee the project's design, estimate and secure materials, and manage schedules. Additionally, you will be responsible for drafting and executing construction contracts, monitor project status and progress, and conducting engineering research and investigations. You will also train new design engineers, guide other departments on engineering matters, and keeping up-to-date with the latest industry trends.
Principal design engineer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real principal design engineer resumes:
- Manage complex resolution of provisioning issues and develop practices and procedures for circuit installation and maintenance.
- Implement bus interface and board control FPGA for mix signal ASIC test system.
- Participate in the evaluation and selection of standard cell, memory, and I/O ASIC libraries and soft IP blocks.
- Create a Perl program that automatically generates top level Verilog connectivity tests.
- Design digital board circuitry and PCB.
- Review or design circuitry and PCB layout.
- Develop Perl scripts that automate the testing process.
- Integrate them into the compiler for automatic generation of bigger IP models.
- Help with many IC converters, buck, boost and buck boost.
- Develop scripts using Perl and UNIX to monitor system performance and network base regression.
- Develop strong technical leadership skills, assuming a lead RF engineering role on many programs.
- Verify power reduction using PrimeTime PX with SPEF from layout data and SAIF files from Verilog simulations.
- Lead IC design engineer on a mix signal IC, for next generation implantable heart rhythm monitoring device.
- Complete senior design work in the development of RF SiGe integrate circuits and systems for set-top box digital television receivers.
- Contribute to design effort by performing new block level analog design and design updates where necessary to meet the system requirements.
Principal design engineer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 8% of Principal Design Engineers are proficient in RF, Principal Design, and CAD. They’re also known for soft skills such as Initiative, Speaking skills, and Writing skills.
We break down the percentage of Principal Design Engineers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- RF, 8%
Use Atoll RF Design Propagation tool to produce complex before and after coverage maps to support RF Affidavits for public hearings.
- Principal Design, 4%
Assigned as a principal design engineer on Exxon Neftegas Limited, Odoptu First Stage production, Sakhalin Island, Russia.
- CAD, 4%
Managed IT duties for the device design facility and installed and administered CAD and product data management software for Closure Medical.
- MATLAB, 4%
Verified an automatic satellite channel acquisition system against its Matlab model.
- SOC, 4%
Designed DDR2 controller memory interface and integrated DDR2 Controller IP into BrightScale's CA1024 and BA1024 SOC chips.
- C++, 4%
Developed using Visual C++ and the IMAPI2 tool kit as a dialog based application.
Most principal design engineers use their skills in "rf," "principal design," and "cad" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential principal design engineer responsibilities here:
Initiative. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a principal design engineer to have is initiative. Their role and responsibilities require that "electrical and electronics engineers must apply their knowledge to new tasks in every project they undertake." Principal design engineers often use initiative in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "provided cost savings initiatives as described by policies, including process improvements, design changes and manufacturing streamlining. "
Speaking skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling principal design engineer duties is speaking skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "electrical and electronics engineers work closely with other engineers and technicians." According to a principal design engineer resume, here's how principal design engineers can utilize speaking skills in their job responsibilities: "presented packaging improvements at design reviews and a technical conference. "
Writing skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of principal design engineers is writing skills. This skill is critical to many everyday principal design engineer duties, as "electrical and electronics engineers develop technical publications related to equipment they develop, including maintenance manuals, operation manuals, parts lists, product proposals, and design methods documents." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "participate in writing asic characterization and production test procedures. "
Math skills. For certain principal design engineer responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "math skills." The day-to-day duties of a principal design engineer rely on this skill, as "electrical and electronics engineers must use the principles of calculus and other advanced math in order to analyze, design, and troubleshoot equipment." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what principal design engineers do: "created cad models from sketches and/or layout geometry. "
The three companies that hire the most principal design engineers are:
- Celestica52 principal design engineers jobs
- Northrop Grumman24 principal design engineers jobs
- Microchip Technology23 principal design engineers jobs
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Compare different principal design engineers
Principal design engineer vs. Engineering trainee
An engineering trainee is responsible for shadowing engineers in their duties and performing administrative tasks as needed. Engineering trainees assist the engineers in inspecting construction sites and conducting field research. They also identify cost-efficient materials and resources that meet quality standards and client specifications. An engineering trainee must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in writing reports, attending meetings, and ensuring that all reports are submitted for management's reviews, such as contracts from suppliers and vendors.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a principal design engineer are more likely to require skills like "principal design," "cad," "soc," and "project management." On the other hand, a job as an engineering trainee requires skills like "excellent interpersonal," "fire protection," "technical support," and "boilers." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Engineering trainees earn the highest salaries when working in the energy industry, with an average yearly salary of $63,253. On the other hand, principal design engineers are paid more in the technology industry with an average salary of $131,753.engineering trainees tend to reach lower levels of education than principal design engineers. In fact, engineering trainees are 9.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 2.5% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Principal design engineer vs. Customer engineer
A customer engineer provides technical support to organizations having issues with their products or services. Duties and responsibilities may vary depending on the sector, but generally include diagnosing and troubleshooting technical problems with products, performing tests, upgrades and diagnostics to prevent delay or downtime caused by-product issues, and keeping updated reports outlining the problems and measures taken to resolve them. A customer engineer is also responsible for discussing service contracts and their benefits with clients.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real principal design engineer resumes. While principal design engineer responsibilities can utilize skills like "rf," "principal design," "cad," and "matlab," customer engineers use skills like "customer service," "technical problems," "level agreements," and "customer satisfaction."
Customer engineers earn a lower average salary than principal design engineers. But customer engineers earn the highest pay in the start-up industry, with an average salary of $106,798. Additionally, principal design engineers earn the highest salaries in the technology with average pay of $131,753 annually.customer engineers earn lower levels of education than principal design engineers in general. They're 18.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 2.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for principal design engineers in the next 3-5 years?
Andrea Welker Ph.D.
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, College of Engineering Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Villanova University
Principal design engineer vs. Senior staff engineer
A senior staff engineer is responsible for supervising a team of engineers, chemists, software developers, or molecular biologists. His/Her or her responsibilities include generating Structured Query Language (SQL) performance audit checklist template, creating SQL data query routines and functions for data extraction, and working directly with stakeholders. The job requires strong mechanical, listening, and mathematical skills and proficiency in Python programming language and computer architecture and hardware. The education requirements for the job include a bachelor's or master's degree in electrical engineering, business, mechanical engineering, or a related field.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a principal design engineer is likely to be skilled in "principal design," "matlab," "design verification," and "analog," while a typical senior staff engineer is skilled in "python," "java," "c #," and "architecture."
Senior staff engineers earn the highest salary when working in the telecommunication industry, where they receive an average salary of $136,458. Comparatively, principal design engineers have the highest earning potential in the technology industry, with an average salary of $131,753.When it comes to education, senior staff engineers tend to earn lower degree levels compared to principal design engineers. In fact, they're 5.1% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.4% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Principal design engineer vs. Engineer
Engineers are highly trained professionals who determine the feasibility of various projects, usually related to the construction industry. They are considered experts in mathematics and science, two disciplines that they need to use in designing and coming up with plans for projects. They should also be well-versed in different construction or industrial materials, and they ensure that appropriate materials are used for the project. They also ensure that the projects meet the requirements of the groups that hired them. They create spaces that would both address the needs of the end-users and the industry standards. They also ensure that the projects they make would stand the test of time.
Types of principal design engineer
Updated January 8, 2025
