Become A Senior Systems Software Engineer

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Working As A Senior Systems Software Engineer

Interacting With Computers
Making Decisions and Solving Problems
Thinking Creatively
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge
Getting Information

Mostly Sitting
$109,763
Average Salary

What Does A Senior Systems Software Engineer Do

A Senior Systems Software Engineer ensures the stability and efficient operation of in-house information systems. They may work as employees or independent contractors in private industry or government agencies.

How To Become A Senior Systems Software Engineer

Software developers usually have a bachelor’s degree in computer science and strong computer programming skills.

Education

Software developers usually have a bachelor’s degree, typically in computer science, software engineering, or a related field. A degree in mathematics is also acceptable. Computer science degree programs are the most common, because they tend to cover a broad range of topics. Students should focus on classes related to building software in order to better prepare themselves for work in the occupation. For some positions, employers may prefer a master’s degree.

Although writing code is not their first priority, developers must have a strong background in computer programming. They usually gain this experience in school. Throughout their career, developers must keep up to date on new tools and computer languages.

Software developers also need skills related to the industry in which they work. Developers working in a bank, for example, should have knowledge of finance so that they can understand a bank’s computing needs.

Other Experience

Many students gain experience in software development by completing an internship at a software company while in college.

Some software developers first work as computer programmers and then are given more responsibility as they gain experience. Eventually, they become developers.

Advancement

Software developers can advance to become information technology (IT) project managers, also called computer and information systems managers, a position in which they oversee the software development process.

Important Qualities

Analytical skills. Developers must analyze users’ needs and then design software to meet those needs.

Communication skills. Developers must be able to give clear instructions to others working on a project. They must also explain to their customers how the software works and answer any questions that arise.

Computer skills. Developers must understand computer capabilities and programming languages in order to design effective software.

Creativity. Developers are the creative minds behind new computer software.

Detail oriented. Developers often work on many parts of an application or system at the same time and must therefore be able to concentrate and pay attention to detail.

Interpersonal skills. Software developers must be able to work well with others who contribute to designing, developing, and programming successful software.

Problem-solving skills. Because developers are in charge of software from beginning to end, they must be able to solve problems that arise throughout the design process.

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Senior Systems Software Engineer jobs

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Senior Systems Software Engineer Career Paths

Senior Systems Software Engineer

Senior Test Engineer Quality Assurance Lead Senior Consultant

Chief Information Officer

11 Yearsyrs

Senior Technician Specialist Senior Software Engineer

Chief Technology Officer

11 Yearsyrs

Senior Systems Engineer Systems Administrator Information Technology Manager

Director Of Information

10 Yearsyrs

Staff Software Engineer Principal Software Engineer Software Development Manager

Director Of Software Development

12 Yearsyrs

Senior Engineer Engineering Manager

Engineering Director

13 Yearsyrs

Chief Technology Officer Technical Consultant Network Administrator

Information Technology Director

10 Yearsyrs

Owner Facilities Manager Information Technology Manager

Information Technology Systems Manager

8 Yearsyrs

Chief Technology Officer Senior Project Manager Senior Product Manager

Principal Product Manager

10 Yearsyrs

Senior Software Architect Software Development Manager Product Manager

Product Manager, Mobile

10 Yearsyrs

Senior Test Engineer Senior Quality Assurance Analyst Senior Business Analyst

Product Owner

9 Yearsyrs

Principal Software Engineer Principal Engineer Engineering Director

Senior Director Of Engineering

15 Yearsyrs

Senior Technician Specialist Senior Consultant Information Technology Manager

Senior Information Technology Manager

10 Yearsyrs

Senior Engineer Senior Software Engineer

Senior Java Developer

6 Yearsyrs

Senior Systems Engineer Project Manager

Senior Project Manager

12 Yearsyrs

Owner Property Manager Business Analyst

Senior Quality Assurance Analyst

6 Yearsyrs

Engineering Manager General Manager Database Administrator

Senior Software Engineer

6 Yearsyrs

Staff Software Engineer Senior Staff Engineer Engineering Manager

Vice President Of Engineering

13 Yearsyrs

Engineering Manager Senior Manager Director Of Information

Vice President Of Information Technology

12 Yearsyrs

Senior Software Architect Director Of Software Development

Vice President Of Software Engineering

13 Yearsyrs

Principal Software Engineer Software Development Manager Director Of Software Development

Vice President, Software Development

11 Yearsyrs

Average Length of Employment

Staff Software Engineer 5.3 years
Principle Software Engineer 5.2 years
Senior Software Engineer Manager 5.0 years
Principal Software Engineer 5.0 years
Software Engineering Manager 4.6 years
Senior Software Designer 4.4 years
Software Engineering Specialist 4.4 years
Software Systems Engineer 4.2 years
Software Design Engineer 4.1 years
Senior Systems Software Engineer 4.0 years
Senior Software Development Engineer 4.0 years
Software Engineer/Technical Lead 3.9 years
Senior Software Engineer 3.9 years
Advanced Software Engineer 3.8 years
Software Engineer-Team Lead 3.6 years
Software Engineer Lead 3.4 years
Senior Software Engineer Lead 3.4 years
Software Development Engineer 3.3 years
Software Leader 3.2 years
Software Engineer 3.2 years
Software Designer 3.0 years
Software Verification Engineer 2.9 years
Software Integrator Engineer 2.8 years
Software Consultant 2.8 years
Software Engineer-Consultant 2.8 years
Contract Software Engineer 2.6 years
Associate Software Engineer 1.7 years

Top Careers Before Senior Systems Software Engineer

Top Careers After Senior Systems Software Engineer

Senior Systems Software Engineer Demographics

Gender

Male
81.3%
Female
14.4%
Unknown
4.3%

Ethnicity

White
69.7%
Asian
18.5%
Hispanic or Latino
8.3%
Unknown
2.9%
Black or African American
0.6%

Languages Spoken

Spanish
43.8%
Chinese
12.5%
Japanese
12.5%
French
12.5%
Portuguese
6.3%
German
6.3%
Mandarin
6.3%

Senior Systems Software Engineer

Unfortunately we don’t have enough data for this section.

Senior Systems Software Engineer Education

Schools

San Jose State University
7.4%
Arizona State University
6.4%
National University
6.4%
Florida State University
6.4%
University of Illinois at Chicago
5.3%
Pennsylvania State University
5.3%
University of Phoenix
5.3%
University of California - Irvine
5.3%
University of Texas at Austin
5.3%
University of Texas at Arlington
4.3%
Southern Methodist University
4.3%
University of California - San Diego
4.3%
Northeastern University
4.3%
Johns Hopkins University
4.3%
University of Houston
4.3%
Illinois Institute of Technology
4.3%
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
4.3%
University of Rhode Island
4.3%
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
4.3%
Colorado State University
4.3%

Majors

Computer Science 31.3%
Electrical Engineering 15.6%
Computer Engineering 11.6%
Business 9.2%
Mathematics 3.8%
Computer Information Systems 3.2%
Information Technology 3.0%
Engineering 2.7%
Finance 2.2%
Computer Applications 2.2%
Systems Engineering 1.9%
Management 1.9%
Mechanical Engineering 1.9%
Information Systems 1.9%
Physics 1.9%
Electrical Engineering Technology 1.3%
Engineering And Industrial Management 1.3%
Education 1.3%
Management Information Systems 1.1%
Project Management 0.8%

Degrees

Bachelors
40.0%
Masters
38.4%
Other
11.9%
Associate
3.8%
Doctorate
3.8%
Certificate
2.2%

Senior Systems Software Engineer

Unfortunately we don’t have enough data for this section.

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Real Senior Systems Software Engineer Salaries

Job Title	Company	Location	Start Date	Salary
Senior Systems Software Engineer	Nvidia Corporation	Santa Clara, CA	Nov 21, 2016	$195,000
Engineer, SR. Principal-Software Systems	Broadcom Corporation	Sunnyvale, CA	Feb 08, 2016	$192,000
SR. Systems Software Engineer	Nvidia Corporation	Santa Clara, CA	Nov 19, 2015	$187,800 - $205,478
Senior Systems Software Engineer	Nvidia Corporation	Santa Clara, CA	Oct 05, 2016	$180,300
Senior System Software Engineer	Nvidia Corporation	Santa Clara, CA	Oct 21, 2016	$180,000
SR. Systems Software Engineer	Nvidia Corporation	Santa Clara, CA	Jul 14, 2016	$178,500
Senior Systems Software Engineer	Nvidia Corporation	Santa Clara, CA	Jul 19, 2016	$177,000
Engineer, SR. Principal-Software Systems	Broadcom Corporation	Sunnyvale, CA	May 14, 2016	$174,161
SR. Systems Software Engineer	Nvidia Corporation	Santa Clara, CA	Jan 12, 2015	$170,000 - $185,307
Senior Systems Software Engineer	Nvidia Corporation	Santa Clara, CA	Jul 12, 2016	$169,000
Senior Systems Software Engineer	Nvidia Corporation	Santa Clara, CA	Nov 14, 2016	$165,000
Senior Systems Software Engineer	Nvidia Corporation	Santa Clara, CA	Jul 12, 2016	$165,000
SR. Systems Software Engineer	Nvidia Corporation	Santa Clara, CA	Nov 19, 2015	$165,000 - $186,216
Senior Systems Software Engineer	Nvidia Corporation	Santa Clara, CA	Aug 16, 2016	$164,800
SR. Systems Software Engineer	Nvidia Corporation	Santa Clara, CA	Jul 01, 2016	$146,000 - $159,635
Senior Systems Software Engineer	Nvidia Corporation	Santa Clara, CA	Jul 25, 2016	$146,000 - $163,211
Senior Systems Software Engineer	Nvidia Corporation	Champaign, IL	Jul 25, 2016	$145,000
Engineer, SR. Staff-Software Systems	Broadcom Corporation	San Jose, CA	Feb 04, 2015	$145,000
Engineer, SR. Principal-Software Systems	Broadcom Corporation	Andover, MA	Jan 23, 2015	$144,422
Senior System Software Engineer	Akamai Technologies, Inc.	Cambridge, MA	Aug 03, 2016	$144,000 - $170,000
Senior Systems Software Engineer	Nvidia Corporation	Santa Clara, CA	Nov 14, 2016	$143,584 - $169,469
Senior System Software Engineer	Workboard Inc.	Redwood City, CA	Oct 17, 2016	$142,064
Engineer, SR. Staff-Software Systems	Broadcom Corporation	Irvine, CA	Nov 03, 2016	$129,131
Engineer Senior Systems Software	Nvidia Corporation	Redmond, WA	Sep 01, 2015	$128,710 - $130,560
Engineer, SR. Staff-Software Systems	Broadcom Corporation	Irvine, CA	Jul 07, 2016	$128,010
Senior Systems Software Engineer	Nvidia Corporation	Santa Clara, CA	Oct 25, 2016	$127,900 - $138,403
SR. Distributed Systems Software Engineer	Teradata Operations, Inc.	Austin, TX	Sep 23, 2016	$127,000
Senior Systems Software Engineer	Nvidia Corporation	Austin, TX	Aug 30, 2016	$126,310
SR. Systems Software Engineer	Nvidia Corporation	Austin, TX	Apr 08, 2015	$125,000 - $158,403
SR. Systems Software Engineer	Nvidia Corporation	Santa Clara, CA	Feb 03, 2015	$125,000 - $129,991

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Top Skills for A Senior Systems Software Engineer

Top Senior Systems Software Engineer Skills

Web Services
Windows XP
Database

You can check out examples of real life uses of top skills on resumes here:

Created various Windows /Restful Web Services, ETL packages with new functionality to provide infrastructure data to other departments.
Performed as Principal Investigator, Program Manager and Senior Software Engineer, programming in JAVA on Windows XP platform.
Used Enterprise Architect for the database design/software architecture, and the development was done on Eclipse.
Provided testing for Oracle PL/SQL algorithms present in the Oracle Database that processed the imported Excel Spreadsheet data.
Used ESCAPE and HEAL avionic database tools with C/C++ in accordance with DO-178B development standards.