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The differences between senior operations 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 operations engineer and a principal systems engineer. Additionally, a principal systems engineer has an average salary of $133,208, 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 systems engineer are systems engineering, DOD, and C++.
| Senior Operations Engineer | Principal Systems Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $112,583 | $133,208 |
| Hourly rate | $54.13 | $64.04 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 141,825 | 146,444 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
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 Systems Engineer supervises a group of other engineers in technical projects. They develop and lead systems engineering projects and efforts.
Senior operations engineers and principal systems engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Operations Engineer | Principal Systems Engineer | |
| Average salary | $112,583 | $133,208 |
| Salary range | Between $82,000 And $153,000 | 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 | Start-up | Telecommunication |
There are a few differences between a senior operations engineer and a principal systems engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Operations Engineer | Principal Systems Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Northeastern University |
Here are the differences between senior operations engineers' and principal systems engineers' demographics:
| Senior Operations Engineer | Principal Systems Engineer | |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 90.7% Female, 9.3% | Male, 89.7% Female, 10.3% |
| 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, 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% |