Principle engineer vs lead engineer

The differences between principle engineers and lead engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a principle engineer and a lead engineer. Additionally, a principle engineer has an average salary of $126,143, which is higher than the $84,927 average annual salary of a lead engineer.

The top three skills for a principle engineer include architecture, java and R. The most important skills for a lead engineer are java, python, and architecture.

Principle engineer vs lead engineer overview

	Principle Engineer	Lead Engineer
Yearly salary	$126,143	$84,927
Hourly rate	$60.65	$40.83
Growth rate	2%	2%
Number of jobs	158,235	301,777
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Average age	41	41
Years of experience	6	6

Principle engineer vs lead engineer salary

Principle engineers and lead engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Principle Engineer	Lead Engineer
Average salary	$126,143	$84,927
Salary range	Between $92,000 And $171,000	Between $60,000 And $120,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	Hawaii
Best paying company	The Walt Disney Company	Meta
Best paying industry	Finance	Automotive

Differences between principle engineer and lead engineer education

There are a few differences between a principle engineer and a lead engineer in terms of educational background:

	Principle Engineer	Lead Engineer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Most common major	Electrical Engineering	Mechanical Engineering
Most common college	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Principle engineer vs lead engineer demographics

Here are the differences between principle engineers' and lead engineers' demographics:

	Principle Engineer	Lead Engineer
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 94.5% Female, 5.5%	Male, 90.8% Female, 9.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 17.0% White, 67.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%	Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 16.8% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage	5%	5%

Differences between principle engineer and lead engineer duties and responsibilities

Principle engineer example responsibilities.

Lead cross-functional development initiatives compliant with FDA 21 CFR 820.
Code the Linux socket base GigE protocol to manage and transfer streams of video data.
Manage Terraform and refactore from monolithic to application specific components.
Set up and configure PHP Java bridge to enable invoking Java services from a PHP script.
Design and develop low-level FC device driver as well as the Linux kernel interface layer for the product.
Have a detail-orient with a track record of delivering infrastructure enhancements on time and with minimal impacts to production.

Lead engineer example responsibilities.

Manage, train, and supervise other android developers.
Manage final inspection and performance testing of API centrifugal pumps and steam turbines.
Design and manage the build of infrastructure to support the corporate CRM applications used throughout the enterprise.
Provide consultation to the ISO team in achieving certification, and enable company to win many more deals as a result.
Support DOD agency needs in accomplishing engineer technical and non-technical goals associate with wireless LAN technology products.
Develop the presentation tier using JSP, JavaScript, CSS, XHTML and HTML.

Principle engineer vs lead engineer skills

Common principle engineer skills

Architecture, 10%
Java, 9%
R, 5%
API, 4%
System Design, 4%
Product Development, 4%

Common lead engineer skills

Java, 12%
Python, 8%
Architecture, 7%
C++, 4%
JavaScript, 4%
API, 3%