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Senior member technical staff vs principal systems engineer

The differences between senior member technical staff 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 member technical staff and a principal systems engineer. Additionally, a principal systems engineer has an average salary of $133,208, which is higher than the $130,432 average annual salary of a senior member technical staff.

The top three skills for a senior member technical staff include java, python and cloud. The most important skills for a principal systems engineer are systems engineering, DOD, and C++.

Senior member technical staff vs principal systems engineer overview

Senior Member Technical StaffPrincipal Systems Engineer
Yearly salary$130,432$133,208
Hourly rate$62.71$64.04
Growth rate5%5%
Number of jobs188,462146,444
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 64%Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Average age4343
Years of experience22

What does a senior member technical staff do?

A Senior Member Technical Staff is a title synonymous with software engineering given by technology companies to reduce discrepancies from different overlapping job backgrounds. Companies use this title so that they can make employee remuneration and provision of staff benefits less complicated and efficient. Moreover, a Senior Member of Technical Staff can also apply in the circumstance of them possessing highly valued multi-disciplinary knowledge that cannot be subjected to a singular job category.

What does a principal systems engineer do?

A Principal Systems Engineer supervises a group of other engineers in technical projects. They develop and lead systems engineering projects and efforts.

Senior member technical staff vs principal systems engineer salary

Senior member technical staff and principal systems engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Senior Member Technical StaffPrincipal Systems Engineer
Average salary$130,432$133,208
Salary rangeBetween $99,000 And $171,000Between $97,000 And $181,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best paying companyPure StorageeBay
Best paying industryTelecommunicationTelecommunication

Differences between senior member technical staff and principal systems engineer education

There are a few differences between a senior member technical staff and a principal systems engineer in terms of educational background:

Senior Member Technical StaffPrincipal Systems Engineer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 64%Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Most common majorElectrical EngineeringElectrical Engineering
Most common collegeCalifornia State University - Long BeachNortheastern University

Senior member technical staff vs principal systems engineer demographics

Here are the differences between senior member technical staff' and principal systems engineers' demographics:

Senior Member Technical StaffPrincipal Systems Engineer
Average age4343
Gender ratioMale, 80.6% Female, 19.4%Male, 89.7% Female, 10.3%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 8.0% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.7% Asian, 13.9% White, 61.0% 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 Percentage9%9%

Differences between senior member technical staff and principal systems engineer duties and responsibilities

Senior member technical staff example responsibilities.

  • Achieve stretch goal of development of the HTML registration pages (display within the PC client) on time with quality.
  • Debug and resolve defects in assign UNIX components to achieve quantitative product release quality criteria.
  • Lead successful projects with cross organizational teams from invention through prototyping phases of product introduction allowing deployment of new printing platform.
  • Maintain and develop the schema files for testing models in matlab (in C++ and Perl).
  • Serve as the liaison for interfacing systems and QA, and are responsible for API definition and use cases.
  • Help to develop FPGA migration design flow.
  • Show more

Principal systems engineer example responsibilities.

  • Manage creation and deletion of user accounts in the department using Perl scripts.
  • Achieve compatibility requirements by partnering with LTE team to perform APCO P25 - LTE device functional and performance testing.
  • Develop and integrate software that drives flight control system hardware and achieves product requirements for an international avionics customer base.
  • Create verification test plans for TCP/IP network systems and storage area networks (SAN) incorporating Linux and Cisco network equipment.
  • Perform RF signal processing and simulation testing of pulse compression modulations.
  • Configure Linux systems to analyze system performance and review results against verification test plans.
  • Show more

Senior member technical staff vs principal systems engineer skills

Common senior member technical staff skills
  • Java, 20%
  • Python, 9%
  • Cloud, 8%
  • Architecture, 7%
  • Infrastructure, 7%
  • Debugging, 6%
Common principal systems engineer skills
  • Systems Engineering, 10%
  • DOD, 8%
  • C++, 5%
  • RF, 5%
  • System Design, 5%
  • Infrastructure, 4%

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