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The differences between senior operations engineers and principal software engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a senior operations engineer, becoming a principal software engineer takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a principal software engineer has an average salary of $134,230, which is higher than the $112,583 average annual salary of a senior operations engineer.
The top three skills for a senior operations engineer include python, AWS and cloud. The most important skills for a principal software engineer are java, python, and software development.
| Senior Operations Engineer | Principal Software Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $112,583 | $134,230 |
| Hourly rate | $54.13 | $64.53 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 21% |
| Number of jobs | 141,825 | 345,893 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Average age | 43 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 4 |
Senior operations engineers are engineering professionals who ensure that the operations of an organization are working properly and meet both factory and management specifications. These engineers are required to create maintenance procedures that are adaptable to the existing maintenance management software for the newly installed facilities and equipment. They must provide technical support to the organization's operations, such as project design, plant optimization, project management, and startup. Senior operations engineers must also implement effective process improvements so that they can increase productivity and reduce production costs.
A Principal Software Engineer is responsible for the technical aspects of an organization's projects. They diagnose, document, and troubleshoot systems to resolve problems identified through testing, as well as implement strategies to improve integration and efficiency.
Senior operations engineers and principal software engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Operations Engineer | Principal Software Engineer | |
| Average salary | $112,583 | $134,230 |
| Salary range | Between $82,000 And $153,000 | Between $98,000 And $182,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Seattle, WA |
| Highest paying state | California | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | Apple | |
| Best paying industry | Start-up | Retail |
There are a few differences between a senior operations engineer and a principal software engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Operations Engineer | Principal Software Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | California State University - Long Beach |
Here are the differences between senior operations engineers' and principal software engineers' demographics:
| Senior Operations Engineer | Principal Software Engineer | |
| Average age | 43 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 90.7% Female, 9.3% | Male, 87.5% Female, 12.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 12.2% Asian, 12.4% White, 61.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 4.4% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.2% Asian, 29.9% White, 52.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 8% |