Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between senior solutions 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 solutions engineer and a senior principal engineer. Additionally, a senior principal engineer has an average salary of $130,642, which is higher than the $110,210 average annual salary of a senior solutions engineer.
The top three skills for a senior solutions engineer include cloud, healthcare and database. The most important skills for a senior principal engineer are python, architecture, and java.
| Senior Solutions Engineer | Senior Principal Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $110,210 | $130,642 |
| Hourly rate | $52.99 | $62.81 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 177,826 | 272,459 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 44 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
Senior Solutions Engineers are information technology (IT) professionals employed by a company that sells software solutions. They would often lead a group of solutions engineers. They usually partner with salespeople in going on fieldwork to clients. They get to know the clients and understand their needs based on the problem areas. Senior Solutions Engineers would then create programs, software, or network infrastructure that would address the clients' specific needs. They should be able to showcase these programs to clients to make them want to get one. As such, Senior Software Engineers should be good communicators and negotiators.
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 solutions engineers and senior principal engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Solutions Engineer | Senior Principal Engineer | |
| Average salary | $110,210 | $130,642 |
| Salary range | Between $79,000 And $152,000 | Between $93,000 And $182,000 |
| Highest paying City | Mountain View, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Roku | Airbnb |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Professional |
There are a few differences between a senior solutions engineer and a senior principal engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Solutions Engineer | Senior Principal Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between senior solutions engineers' and senior principal engineers' demographics:
| Senior Solutions Engineer | Senior Principal Engineer | |
| Average age | 44 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 88.3% Female, 11.7% | Male, 88.2% Female, 11.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 1.4% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 6.5% Asian, 10.9% White, 74.8% 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 | 7% | 5% |