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The differences between senior operations engineers and senior principal 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 senior principal engineer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a senior principal engineer has an average salary of $130,642, 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 senior principal engineer are python, architecture, and java.
| Senior Operations Engineer | Senior Principal Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $112,583 | $130,642 |
| Hourly rate | $54.13 | $62.81 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 141,825 | 272,459 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 43 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 6 |
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 senior principal engineer is responsible for leading engineering tasks within an organization and reports project updates to senior management. Senior principal engineers develop strategic methods and principles to improve the technical stability and efficiency of the company's systems, creating business proposals according to clients' specifications, and negotiating contracts with suppliers and other service providers. They also train new staff and identify innovations and business opportunities that would generate more revenue resources for the company.
Senior operations engineers and senior principal engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Operations Engineer | Senior Principal Engineer | |
| Average salary | $112,583 | $130,642 |
| Salary range | Between $82,000 And $153,000 | Between $93,000 And $182,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Apple | Airbnb |
| Best paying industry | Start-up | Professional |
There are a few differences between a senior operations engineer and a senior principal engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Operations Engineer | Senior Principal Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between senior operations engineers' and senior principal engineers' demographics:
| Senior Operations Engineer | Senior Principal Engineer | |
| Average age | 43 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 90.7% Female, 9.3% | Male, 88.2% Female, 11.8% |
| 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, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 17.2% White, 67.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 5% |