Principal Engineer vs. Senior Engineer

A principal engineer is a professional who oversees other engineers in different departments and contributes to multiple projects at one time, while a senior engineer is someone who often manages just one project or department.

Staff Engineer vs. Senior Engineer

A staff engineer reports directly to directors of engineering, while a senior engineer is below a staff engineer in the hierarchy of a company. Staff engineers design, build, and test structures, products, systems, services, or equipment, depending on their area of specialty. They are employed in a variety of industries and mainly specialize in civil, mechanical, industrial, or electrical engineering. Staff engineers may also work in the technology space, such as a staff software engineer.

How many years does it take to be a senior engineer?

It takes about ten years to become a senior engineer. First, you must meet the educational requirements and then gain sufficient work experience in your industry. To become a senior engineer requires, at minimum, a four-year bachelor's degree in an engineering field. For some more competitive senior engineering positions, however, a master's degree may be required.

How much experience does a senior engineer need?

To become a senior engineer, you need at least three years of experience. Depending on the industry and your educational credentials, it takes anywhere from 3 to 6 years of work experience to be considered for an engineering position.

What is a senior-level engineer?

A senior-level engineer is someone with more extensive knowledge and years of experience developing and designing software programs or applications than other engineers on their team. As an engineer, there are varying levels of seniority as you move through your career. There are four main levels, including junior, mid-level, senior, and principal engineer.

What is the role of a senior engineer?

The role of a senior engineer is to oversee large engineering projects and, when applicable, the teams tasked with completing those projects. As a senior project engineer, a typical day involves preparing, coordinating, and monitoring a project, from the initial conception to the schedule and completion.

What is a senior engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

5 min read

Quoted Experts

Andrea Welker Ph.D.,

John Russo

A senior engineer specializes in designing and developing complex systems or products. They are responsible for leading engineering teams, managing projects, and providing technical guidance to junior engineers. They possess a deep understanding of engineering principles and use their expertise to solve complex problems and are expected to stay up-to-date on industry trends, as well as mentor junior staff. As leaders in their field, senior engineers are also involved in strategic planning and decision-making for their organization.

What general advice would you give to a Senior Engineer?

Andrea Welker Ph.D.

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, College of Engineering Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Villanova University

Be open to new experiences. Find a good mentor. Become a valued employee. Always remember that you are designing something for someone.

ScoreSenior EngineerUS Average

Salary

7.8

Avg. Salary $108,743

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

7.4

Growth Rate 2%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.11%

Asian 17.14%

Black or African American 3.09%

Hispanic or Latino 7.91%

Unknown 4.51%

White 67.24%

Gender

female 10.90%

male 89.10%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress Level

7.4

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

8.6

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

5.1

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

What are the pros and cons of being a Senior Engineer?

Pros

Opportunities for leadership and mentorship
Ability to make significant contributions to the company and industry
Continuous learning and professional development opportunities
Recognition and respect from colleagues and peers
Opportunity to work on cutting-edge technology

Cons

High stress and pressure to meet project deadlines
Constant need to stay up-to-date with industry advancements
Limited work-life balance, especially during critical project phases
Difficulty in managing diverse teams with varying skill sets and personalities
Potential for conflict with other departments or teams within the organization.

Newest jobs for Senior Engineer in Ashburn, VA

Receive alerts for the newest job postings.

Key steps to become a senior engineer

Explore senior engineer education requirements

Most common senior engineer degrees

Bachelor's

67.7 %

Master's

19.2 %

Associate

6.7 %

Start to develop specific senior engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
Java	10.15%
Python	8.62%
Architecture	6.82%
JavaScript	4.34%
API	3.63%

Complete relevant senior engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New senior engineers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a senior engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real senior engineer resumes.

Research senior engineer duties and responsibilities

Tune the TCP/IP, NFS and CIFS for 1Gb and 10Gb Ethernet to achieve performance goals.
Manage multiple releases of a global CRM initiative with on time and within budget deployment.
Implement and support migration tool used to automate promotion of code throughout all SDLC environments.
Manage & lead process analysis, design, & ERP implementation engagements at various client locations.

Get senior engineer experience

Generally, it takes 4-6 years to become a senior engineer. The most common roles before becoming a senior engineer include engineer, project engineer team lead and software engineer.

Prepare your senior engineer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior engineer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a senior engineer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Senior Engineer Resume templates

Build a professional Senior Engineer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Senior Engineer resume.

Apply for senior engineer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a senior engineer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do senior engineers rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Senior Engineer reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2020

Cons

I didn't like how technical it could become