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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 | Principal Systems Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $130,432 | $133,208 |
| Hourly rate | $62.71 | $64.04 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 188,462 | 146,444 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
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.
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 and principal systems engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Member Technical Staff | Principal Systems Engineer | |
| Average salary | $130,432 | $133,208 |
| Salary range | Between $99,000 And $171,000 | Between $97,000 And $181,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Pure Storage | eBay |
| Best paying industry | Telecommunication | Telecommunication |
There are a few differences between a senior member technical staff and a principal systems engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Member Technical Staff | Principal Systems Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | 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 member technical staff' and principal systems engineers' demographics:
| Senior Member Technical Staff | Principal Systems Engineer | |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 80.6% Female, 19.4% | Male, 89.7% Female, 10.3% |
| Race ratio | Black 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 Percentage | 9% | 9% |