Post job

Principal project engineer vs senior project engineer

The differences between principal project engineers and senior project 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 principal project engineer, becoming a senior project engineer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a principal project engineer has an average salary of $122,090, which is higher than the $97,803 average annual salary of a senior project engineer.

The top three skills for a principal project engineer include project management, program management and DOD. The most important skills for a senior project engineer are project management, construction management, and CAD.

Principal project engineer vs senior project engineer overview

Principal Project EngineerSenior Project Engineer
Yearly salary$122,090$97,803
Hourly rate$58.70$47.02
Growth rate10%2%
Number of jobs95,718146,838
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 69%Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Average age4241
Years of experience46

What does a principal project engineer do?

A principal project engineer spearheads and oversees engineering projects, ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. It is their duty to set guidelines and objectives, provide technical and engineering support to various teams, gather and analyze data, identify the strengths and weaknesses of existing procedures, implement solutions against problem areas, and conducting inspections to ensure that all processes adhere to the company's quality standards and safety regulations, including the state and industry laws. Moreover, as a principal project engineer, it is essential to monitor the progress of all operations, training junior engineers when necessary.

What does a senior project engineer do?

A senior project engineer is responsible for monitoring the project team's overall process and operations from conceptualization until completion, ensuring the adherence to the clients' specifications, within the budget's goals, and the required deadline. Senior project engineers regularly communicate with the client regarding updates or necessary adjustments. They develop strategic procedures to finish the project efficiently by running diagnostic tests and troubleshooting discrepancies. A senior project engineer must have excellent communication and leadership skills to handle the team's performance and provide assistance when necessary.

Principal project engineer vs senior project engineer salary

Principal project engineers and senior project engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Principal Project EngineerSenior Project Engineer
Average salary$122,090$97,803
Salary rangeBetween $74,000 And $200,000Between $77,000 And $124,000
Highest paying CityHouston, TXSan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateTexasMaryland
Best paying companyAlphanumericAmazon
Best paying industryFinanceAutomotive

Differences between principal project engineer and senior project engineer education

There are a few differences between a principal project engineer and a senior project engineer in terms of educational background:

Principal Project EngineerSenior Project Engineer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 69%Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Most common majorMechanical EngineeringMechanical Engineering
Most common collegeNorthwestern UniversityMichigan Technological University

Principal project engineer vs senior project engineer demographics

Here are the differences between principal project engineers' and senior project engineers' demographics:

Principal Project EngineerSenior Project Engineer
Average age4241
Gender ratioMale, 88.7% Female, 11.3%Male, 84.4% Female, 15.6%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.5% Asian, 15.5% White, 65.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 8.4% Asian, 14.8% White, 69.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage4%5%

Differences between principal project engineer and senior project engineer duties and responsibilities

Principal project engineer example responsibilities.

  • Lead a team of contracts management, engineering and marketing to secure multi-million dollar contracts from DoD and commercial customers.
  • Manage multiple crews for installation, implementation and service of RF and telecommunications systems throughout Florida.
  • Construct thread-safe, share memory libraries for concurrent data capture in Java and C++.
  • Used a variety of debugging tools to trace and debug multithreading applications on both development and production stage.
  • Design $2.5 million dollar class 8 clean room including 3 clean room manufacturing areas, gown room and QA office.
  • Integrate PCoIP infrastructure in DC and deploy thin clients in office as a security and cost saving replacement for Linux workstations.
  • Show more

Senior project engineer example responsibilities.

  • Manage offshore-onsite deliveries in the SharePoint, .Net, EMC Documentum environments and best practices.
  • Design and manage a quality management system for the company's dealer franchise network so dealers can become ISO certify.
  • Lead development of PC software design to enhance dealer sales effectiveness and ability to demonstrate superior product value for the customer.
  • Design and manage retrofits for HVAC system and fire protection program for nuclear pharmaceutical manufacturing facility.
  • Manage multiple crews for installation, implementation and service of RF and telecommunications systems throughout Florida.
  • Manage the manufacturing of defense and aerospace electro-mechanical print circuit boards from prototype to production level.
  • Show more

Principal project engineer vs senior project engineer skills

Common principal project engineer skills
  • Project Management, 24%
  • Program Management, 13%
  • DOD, 7%
  • Risk Management, 6%
  • Project Scope, 3%
  • Earned Value Management, 3%
Common senior project engineer skills
  • Project Management, 16%
  • Construction Management, 4%
  • CAD, 4%
  • UL, 4%
  • Engineering Design, 3%
  • Cost Estimates, 3%

Browse architecture and engineering jobs