Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between senior product development engineers and senior principal engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a senior product development engineer and a senior principal engineer. Additionally, a senior principal engineer has an average salary of $130,642, which is higher than the $98,348 average annual salary of a senior product development engineer.
The top three skills for a senior product development engineer include CAD, solidworks and product development. The most important skills for a senior principal engineer are python, architecture, and java.
| Senior Product Development Engineer | Senior Principal Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $98,348 | $130,642 |
| Hourly rate | $47.28 | $62.81 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 195,294 | 272,459 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A product development engineer designs and develops new products in adherence to project goals and guidelines. They primarily perform research and assessments to identify and understand project requirements, select materials, develop drafts, create blueprints and prototypes, establish test structures for quality assurance, and facilitate upgrades as necessary. They can also produce product specifications and provide technical support to staff as necessary. Most product development engineers work in a team environment, which requires an open communication line for an efficient workflow.
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 product development engineers and senior principal engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Product Development Engineer | Senior Principal Engineer | |
| Average salary | $98,348 | $130,642 |
| Salary range | Between $76,000 And $126,000 | Between $93,000 And $182,000 |
| Highest paying City | Sunnyvale, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Amazon | Airbnb |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Professional |
There are a few differences between a senior product development engineer and a senior principal engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Product Development Engineer | Senior Principal Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | 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 product development engineers' and senior principal engineers' demographics:
| Senior Product Development Engineer | Senior Principal Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 90.5% Female, 9.5% | Male, 88.2% Female, 11.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 16.5% White, 68.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | 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 | 5% | 5% |