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The differences between senior staff 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 staff engineer and a senior principal engineer. Additionally, a senior staff engineer has an average salary of $136,031, which is higher than the $130,642 average annual salary of a senior principal engineer.
The top three skills for a senior staff engineer include python, java and architecture. The most important skills for a senior principal engineer are python, architecture, and java.
| Senior Staff Engineer | Senior Principal Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $136,031 | $130,642 |
| Hourly rate | $65.40 | $62.81 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 239,752 | 272,459 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A senior staff engineer is responsible for supervising a team of engineers, chemists, software developers, or molecular biologists. His/Her or her responsibilities include generating Structured Query Language (SQL) performance audit checklist template, creating SQL data query routines and functions for data extraction, and working directly with stakeholders. The job requires strong mechanical, listening, and mathematical skills and proficiency in Python programming language and computer architecture and hardware. The education requirements for the job include a bachelor's or master's degree in electrical engineering, business, mechanical engineering, or a related field.
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 staff engineers and senior principal engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Staff Engineer | Senior Principal Engineer | |
| Average salary | $136,031 | $130,642 |
| Salary range | Between $95,000 And $194,000 | Between $93,000 And $182,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Mateo, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Airbnb | Airbnb |
| Best paying industry | Telecommunication | Professional |
There are a few differences between a senior staff engineer and a senior principal engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Staff Engineer | Senior Principal Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | California State Polytechnic University, Pomona | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between senior staff engineers' and senior principal engineers' demographics:
| Senior Staff Engineer | Senior Principal Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 78.4% Female, 21.6% | Male, 88.2% Female, 11.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 16.8% White, 67.6% 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% |