Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between senior lead systems engineers and principal systems engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a senior lead systems engineer and a principal systems engineer. Additionally, a principal systems engineer has an average salary of $133,208, which is higher than the $114,766 average annual salary of a senior lead systems engineer.
The top three skills for a senior lead systems engineer include java, systems engineering and architecture. The most important skills for a principal systems engineer are systems engineering, DOD, and C++.
| Senior Lead Systems Engineer | Principal Systems Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $114,766 | $133,208 |
| Hourly rate | $55.18 | $64.04 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 251,239 | 146,444 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A senior lead systems engineer specializes in designing and developing systems for different industries. Besides engineering systems, they lead the efforts put into completing various projects and programs. Their duties usually include spearheading the research activities, establishing goals and guidelines, setting timelines, selecting resources, delegating responsibilities, and monitoring operations from planning to production, addressing issues and concerns to solve them promptly and efficiently. Additionally, as a senior lead systems engineer, they must lead and empower teams while implementing safety policies and industry standards.
A Principal Systems Engineer supervises a group of other engineers in technical projects. They develop and lead systems engineering projects and efforts.
Senior lead systems engineers and principal systems engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Lead Systems Engineer | Principal Systems Engineer | |
| Average salary | $114,766 | $133,208 |
| Salary range | Between $86,000 And $151,000 | Between $97,000 And $181,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Apple | eBay |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Telecommunication |
There are a few differences between a senior lead systems engineer and a principal systems engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Lead Systems Engineer | Principal Systems Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | California State University - Long Beach | Northeastern University |
Here are the differences between senior lead systems engineers' and principal systems engineers' demographics:
| Senior Lead Systems Engineer | Principal Systems Engineer | |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 86.2% Female, 13.8% | Male, 89.7% Female, 10.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.1% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.8% Asian, 14.1% White, 60.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 8.3% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 12.1% Asian, 12.8% White, 61.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |