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The differences between senior development engineers and senior principal 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 senior development engineer and a senior principal engineer. Additionally, a senior principal engineer has an average salary of $130,642, which is higher than the $113,763 average annual salary of a senior development engineer.
The top three skills for a senior development engineer include java, python and C++. The most important skills for a senior principal engineer are python, architecture, and java.
| Senior Development Engineer | Senior Principal Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $113,763 | $130,642 |
| Hourly rate | $54.69 | $62.81 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 295,281 | 272,459 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A senior development engineer is responsible for designing and developing products and systems according to the needs of an organization. They typically conduct extensive research and analysis, create plans with designers and other engineers, build prototypes and test structures, troubleshoot problems, and create strategies to optimize operations. Moreover, being the senior development engineer, they must lead and serve as a role model to junior engineers in reaching goals, all while enforcing and promoting the company's policies and regulations.
A senior principal engineer is responsible for leading engineering tasks within an organization and reports project updates to senior management. Senior principal engineers develop strategic methods and principles to improve the technical stability and efficiency of the company's systems, creating business proposals according to clients' specifications, and negotiating contracts with suppliers and other service providers. They also train new staff and identify innovations and business opportunities that would generate more revenue resources for the company.
Senior development engineers and senior principal engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Development Engineer | Senior Principal Engineer | |
| Average salary | $113,763 | $130,642 |
| Salary range | Between $87,000 And $148,000 | Between $93,000 And $182,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Netflix | Airbnb |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Professional |
There are a few differences between a senior development engineer and a senior principal engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Development Engineer | Senior Principal Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between senior development engineers' and senior principal engineers' demographics:
| Senior Development Engineer | Senior Principal Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 92.0% Female, 8.0% | Male, 88.2% Female, 11.8% |
| Race ratio | 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% | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 17.2% White, 67.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |