Become A Principal Systems Engineer

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Working As A Principal Systems Engineer

Interacting With Computers
Making Decisions and Solving Problems
Thinking Creatively
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge
Getting Information

Mostly Sitting
$111,797
Average Salary

What Does A Principal Systems Engineer Do

A Principal Systems Engineer supervises a group of other engineers in technical projects. They develop and lead systems engineering projects and efforts.

How To Become A Principal Systems Engineer

Software developers usually have a bachelor’s degree in computer science and strong computer programming skills.

Education

Software developers usually have a bachelor’s degree, typically in computer science, software engineering, or a related field. A degree in mathematics is also acceptable. Computer science degree programs are the most common, because they tend to cover a broad range of topics. Students should focus on classes related to building software in order to better prepare themselves for work in the occupation. For some positions, employers may prefer a master’s degree.

Although writing code is not their first priority, developers must have a strong background in computer programming. They usually gain this experience in school. Throughout their career, developers must keep up to date on new tools and computer languages.

Software developers also need skills related to the industry in which they work. Developers working in a bank, for example, should have knowledge of finance so that they can understand a bank’s computing needs.

Other Experience

Many students gain experience in software development by completing an internship at a software company while in college.

Some software developers first work as computer programmers and then are given more responsibility as they gain experience. Eventually, they become developers.

Advancement

Software developers can advance to become information technology (IT) project managers, also called computer and information systems managers, a position in which they oversee the software development process.

Important Qualities

Analytical skills. Developers must analyze users’ needs and then design software to meet those needs.

Communication skills. Developers must be able to give clear instructions to others working on a project. They must also explain to their customers how the software works and answer any questions that arise.

Computer skills. Developers must understand computer capabilities and programming languages in order to design effective software.

Creativity. Developers are the creative minds behind new computer software.

Detail oriented. Developers often work on many parts of an application or system at the same time and must therefore be able to concentrate and pay attention to detail.

Interpersonal skills. Software developers must be able to work well with others who contribute to designing, developing, and programming successful software.

Problem-solving skills. Because developers are in charge of software from beginning to end, they must be able to solve problems that arise throughout the design process.

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Principal Systems Engineer jobs

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Principal Systems Engineer Career Paths

Principal Systems Engineer

Technical Project Manager Senior Information Technology Manager Senior System Administrator

Data Center Manager

9 Yearsyrs

Manager, Systems Engineering Senior Manager Director Of Information

Director Information Technology Infrastructure

13 Yearsyrs

Engineering Manager Program Manager Senior Manager

Director Of Information

10 Yearsyrs

Technical Consultant Network Administrator Director Of Information

Director Of Information Technology Services

12 Yearsyrs

Manager, Systems Engineering Project Manager Director Of Information

Director Of Infrastructure Operations

13 Yearsyrs

Systems Architect Solutions Architect Program Manager

Engineering Director

13 Yearsyrs

Senior Project Manager Principal Consultant Senior Manager

Information Technology Director

10 Yearsyrs

Technical Account Manager Product Manager Information Technology Project Manager

Information Technology Infrastructure Manager

11 Yearsyrs

Technical Consultant Senior Consultant Information Technology Manager

Information Technology Systems Manager

8 Yearsyrs

Senior Manager Controller Information Technology Manager

Infrastructure Manager

10 Yearsyrs

Program Manager General Manager Account Manager

Operations Manager

7 Yearsyrs

Engineering Manager Operations Manager

Program Manager

8 Yearsyrs

Technical Account Manager Program Manager Engineering Director

Senior Director Of Engineering

15 Yearsyrs

Systems Administrator Information Technology Manager Director Of Information

Senior Director Of Information & Technology

13 Yearsyrs

Systems Architect Project Manager Information Technology Project Manager

Senior Information Technology Manager

10 Yearsyrs

Program Manager Information Technology Project Manager

Senior Project Manager

12 Yearsyrs

Systems Administrator Engineer Engineering Manager

Vice President Of Engineering

13 Yearsyrs

Senior Project Manager Senior Product Manager Senior Manager

Vice President Of Information Technology

12 Yearsyrs

Chief Systems Engineer Chief Engineer Vice President Of Engineering

Vice President Of Software Engineering

13 Yearsyrs

Senior Manager Development Director Director Of Software Development

Vice President, Software Development

11 Yearsyrs

Average Length of Employment

Senior Staff Systems Engineer 5.6 years
Systems Engineer Staff 5.0 years
Senior Principal Engineer 4.9 years
Engineering Scientist 4.9 years
Principal Engineer 4.7 years
Principal Consulting Engineer 4.5 years
Manager, Systems Engineering 4.4 years
Electronic System Engineer 4.3 years
Principal Systems Engineer 4.0 years
Chief Systems Engineer 4.0 years
Mechanical Systems Engineer 3.9 years
Principal Systems Analyst 3.8 years
Lead Systems Engineer 3.7 years
Senior Information Systems Engineer 3.7 years
Consultant Systems Engineer 3.5 years
Electrical Systems Engineer 3.5 years
Technical Services Engineer 3.4 years
Systems Engineer/Architect 3.4 years
Information Systems Engineer 3.3 years
Systems Integration Lead 3.3 years
Operation System Engineer 3.3 years
Systems Integration Engineer 3.3 years
Director Of Systems Engineering 3.3 years
Systems Engineer 3.2 years
Systems Integrator 3.2 years
Associate Systems Engineer 2.1 years
Systems Engineering Internship 0.5 years

Top Careers Before Principal Systems Engineer

Top Careers After Principal Systems Engineer

Senior Systems Engineer 21.1%
Systems Engineer 17.3%
Program Manager 7.1%
Lead Systems Engineer 5.8%
Principal Engineer 5.4%
Consultant 5.4%
Project Manager 4.3%
Senior Project Manager 4.3%
Senior Engineer 3.2%
Engineering Manager 3.2%
Senior Software Engineer 2.8%
Principal 2.8%
Manager 2.6%
Software Engineer 2.5%
Principal Software Engineer 2.4%
Systems Architect 2.1%
Project Engineer 2.1%
Information Technology Project Manager 1.9%
Engineer 1.9%
Systems Administrator 1.9%

Principal Systems Engineer Demographics

Gender

Male
85.2%
Female
10.3%
Unknown
4.5%

Ethnicity

White
75.8%
Asian
12.4%
Hispanic or Latino
8.1%
Unknown
2.8%
Black or African American
0.9%

Languages Spoken

Spanish
35.0%
Carrier
17.5%
Portuguese
5.0%
Chinese
5.0%
German
5.0%
French
5.0%
Russian
5.0%
Swedish
2.5%
Romanian
2.5%
Cantonese
2.5%
Japanese
2.5%
Gujarati
2.5%
Dari
2.5%
Hindi
2.5%
Mandarin
2.5%
Italian
2.5%

Principal Systems Engineer

Unfortunately we don’t have enough data for this section.

Principal Systems Engineer Education

Schools

George Washington University
9.2%
University of Maryland - University College
8.0%
Johns Hopkins University
8.0%
University of Phoenix
7.7%
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
5.4%
University of Arizona
5.4%
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
5.0%
Arizona State University
4.6%
University of Maryland - College Park
4.6%
Georgia Institute of Technology -
4.6%
Northeastern University
4.6%
Pennsylvania State University
4.2%
University of South Florida
3.8%
University of California - Los Angeles
3.8%
Strayer University
3.8%
University of Southern California
3.8%
George Mason University
3.4%
Southern Methodist University
3.4%
Purdue University
3.4%
Stanford University
3.1%

Majors

Electrical Engineering 26.4%
Computer Science 12.4%
Business 9.2%
Computer Information Systems 5.5%
Physics 5.5%
Systems Engineering 5.0%
Computer Engineering 4.9%
Mechanical Engineering 4.9%
Engineering 3.9%
Information Technology 3.5%
Management 2.8%
Mathematics 2.7%
Aerospace Engineering 2.1%
Engineering And Industrial Management 2.0%
Project Management 1.8%
Information Systems 1.7%
Electrical Engineering Technology 1.6%
Education 1.5%
Computer Networking 1.5%
Management Information Systems 1.1%

Degrees

Masters
39.9%
Bachelors
33.0%
Other
11.1%
Doctorate
10.1%
Certificate
2.8%
Associate
2.6%
Diploma
0.3%
License
0.1%

Principal Systems Engineer

Unfortunately we don’t have enough data for this section.

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Real Principal Systems Engineer Salaries

Job Title	Company	Location	Start Date	Salary
Principal System Architecture Engineer	Samsung Semiconductor, Inc.	San Diego, CA	Aug 26, 2015	$205,000
Principal Systems Engineer/Manager/QCT Architecture	Qualcomm Technologies Inc.	San Diego, CA	Sep 01, 2015	$192,109 - $217,700
Principal Systems Engineer	Palo Alto Networks, Inc.	Santa Clara, CA	Dec 19, 2016	$186,000
Principal Systems Engineer	Collective Media, Inc.	New York, NY	Sep 20, 2015	$185,000
Principal Systems Engineer/Chipset Power	Qualcomm Technologies Inc.	San Diego, CA	Apr 27, 2015	$176,946 - $211,300
Principal System Engineer	CSRA, LLC	Baltimore, MD	May 10, 2016	$160,000
Principal Systems Engineer	Cypress Semiconductor Corporation	San Jose, CA	Jul 19, 2016	$160,000
Principal Systems and Control Engineer	Cameron LNG, LLC	Houston, TX	Sep 05, 2015	$160,000
Principal Systems and Control Engineer	Cameron LNG, LLC	Hackberry, LA	Sep 05, 2015	$160,000
Senior Principal Systems Engineer	Tintri, Inc.	Mountain View, CA	Aug 30, 2016	$159,370
Senior Principal Systems Engineer	Tintri, Inc.	Mountain View, CA	Jan 19, 2016	$159,370
Principal Systems Engineer	Cypress Semiconductor Corporation	San Jose, CA	Nov 30, 2015	$157,477 - $160,000
Principal Systems Engineer	A10 Networks, Inc. (Formerly Raksha Networks, Inc.)	San Jose, CA	Mar 24, 2016	$155,000
Principal Systems Engineer	The Gap, Inc.	San Francisco, CA	Dec 20, 2015	$138,445 - $178,000
Principal Systems Engineer	Advanced Bionics LLC	Santa Clarita, CA	Sep 19, 2016	$137,700
Principal Systems Engineer	F5 Networks, Inc.	Seattle, WA	Sep 20, 2015	$135,719
Principal Systems Engineer	EMC Corporation	Bellevue, WA	Jan 08, 2016	$135,366 - $194,950
Application Systems Principal	The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company	Akron, OH	Jun 01, 2016	$133,121 - $140,000
Principal Systems Engineer-Platform Lead .02)	Thales Avionics, Inc.	Irvine, CA	Feb 06, 2016	$132,486
Principal Business Systems Engineer	PTC Inc.	Needham, MA	Apr 15, 2016	$131,747
Principal Business Systems Engineer	PTC Inc.	Needham, MA	Apr 19, 2016	$131,747
Principal Systems Engineer	Arris Solutions, Inc.	Beaverton, OR	Mar 27, 2015	$113,666 - $123,666
Principal Systems Engineer	Arris Enterprises, Inc.	Beaverton, OR	Mar 27, 2015	$113,665 - $123,665
SR. Principal Systems Engineer	Boehringer Ingelheim USA Corporation	Ridgefield, CT	Jan 02, 2015	$113,020 - $143,000
Principal Corporate Systems Engineer	EMC Corporation	Hopkinton, MA	Nov 30, 2016	$112,000 - $155,250
Principal Corporate Systems Engineer	EMC Corporation	Hopkinton, MA	Jun 22, 2016	$112,000 - $155,250
Principal Systems Engineer	Informatica Corporation	Redwood City, CA	Jun 11, 2015	$110,365 - $138,300
Principal Lab Systems Engineer	EMC Corporation	Parkton, NC	Feb 19, 2016	$110,219 - $128,250

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Top Skills for A Principal Systems Engineer

Top Principal Systems Engineer Skills

Systems Engineering
System Architecture
Proposal

You can check out examples of real life uses of top skills on resumes here:

Perform general system characterization, performance testing and troubleshooting as a member of Systems Engineering group.
Provided innovative design of system architecture to save operational cost of major processing and storage of remote sensed data.
Contributed to the technical solutions articulated in proposal documents for major engineering service contracts/subcontracts in the QinetiQ San Diego Business Unit.
Coordinated US engineering sales support for a hardware token solution using either synchronous or asynchronous two-factor authentication providing strong network security.
Identified various security vulnerabilities and responded to security alerts and took necessary actions to ensure system and network integrity and availability.