Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between principal test engineers and senior staff 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 test engineer, becoming a senior staff engineer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a senior staff engineer has an average salary of $136,031, which is higher than the $116,493 average annual salary of a principal test engineer.
The top three skills for a principal test engineer include python, C++ and java. The most important skills for a senior staff engineer are python, java, and architecture.
| Principal Test Engineer | Senior Staff Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $116,493 | $136,031 |
| Hourly rate | $56.01 | $65.40 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 96,539 | 239,752 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Average age | 44 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 6 |
Principal Test Engineers test automation tools and frameworks like Selenium, Appium, and Ranorex. They make sure that the software their companies offer is safe and reliable for consumer use. Being a principal test engineer requires testing to influence better software design, promoting good engineering practice, security, testability, scalability, drafting bug prevention strategies, and reliability. They are responsible for defining test goals, preparing and executing system-level functional tests, providing new project forecasts based on the provided information, and improving the current test solutions by reducing the test time, repeat tests, and yield analysis.
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.
Principal test engineers and senior staff engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Principal Test Engineer | Senior Staff Engineer | |
| Average salary | $116,493 | $136,031 |
| Salary range | Between $84,000 And $159,000 | Between $95,000 And $194,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Mateo, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | Airbnb |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Telecommunication |
There are a few differences between a principal test engineer and a senior staff engineer in terms of educational background:
| Principal Test Engineer | Senior Staff Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | California State University - Long Beach | California State Polytechnic University, Pomona |
Here are the differences between principal test engineers' and senior staff engineers' demographics:
| Principal Test Engineer | Senior Staff Engineer | |
| Average age | 44 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 89.8% Female, 10.2% | Male, 78.4% Female, 21.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 16.8% White, 67.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 5% |