Post job

Software director vs staff software engineer

The differences between software directors and staff software engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a software director and a staff software engineer. Additionally, a software director has an average salary of $150,380, which is higher than the $136,653 average annual salary of a staff software engineer.

The top three skills for a software director include software development, CRM and java. The most important skills for a staff software engineer are java, python, and software development.

Software director vs staff software engineer overview

Software DirectorStaff Software Engineer
Yearly salary$150,380$136,653
Hourly rate$72.30$65.70
Growth rate21%21%
Number of jobs207,295371,213
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 73%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Average age3939
Years of experience44

Software director vs staff software engineer salary

Software directors and staff software engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Software DirectorStaff Software Engineer
Average salary$150,380$136,653
Salary rangeBetween $103,000 And $218,000Between $100,000 And $186,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaAlaska
Best paying companyNVIDIAAirbnb
Best paying industryStart-upRetail

Differences between software director and staff software engineer education

There are a few differences between a software director and a staff software engineer in terms of educational background:

Software DirectorStaff Software Engineer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 73%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Most common majorComputer ScienceComputer Science
Most common collegeStanford UniversityHarvard University

Software director vs staff software engineer demographics

Here are the differences between software directors' and staff software engineers' demographics:

Software DirectorStaff Software Engineer
Average age3939
Gender ratioMale, 88.7% Female, 11.3%Male, 83.0% Female, 17.0%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 4.6% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 8.4% Asian, 29.8% White, 52.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 4.6% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 8.4% Asian, 33.5% White, 48.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage8%8%

Differences between software director and staff software engineer duties and responsibilities

Software director example responsibilities.

  • Manage staff of architects, analysts and UI design personnel.
  • Lead configuration, and optimization of open source embed Linux distribution on the OMAP-L processor to achieve optimal boot performance.
  • Hire and manage blended team, design and implement test lab leveraging existing infrastructure and execute application test plans.
  • Extend department s bandwidth into new technologies, including cloud computing, compute continuum and data sharing and application software.
  • Establish and maintain SQA testing laboratory, prepare acceptance, certification, regression, and Y2K test plans and product specifications.
  • Perform browser compatibility testing and user acceptance testing (UAT )
  • Show more

Staff software engineer example responsibilities.

  • Manage source code and integration for team with git, svn and Jenkins.
  • Utilize JavaScript, AJAX and HTML markup to create, edit and manage filters.
  • Lead the functional verification test team for the security component of IBM z/OS WebSphere.
  • Lead the development of QDSS windows driver and tool chain to use QDSS features for windows platform.
  • Lead a 5-person development team for the BCRS customer recovery solution system in Maximo 7.1 and J2EE.
  • Work with QA for different eBay modules to review and automate tests for testing new functionality on site.
  • Show more

Software director vs staff software engineer skills

Common software director skills
  • Software Development, 16%
  • CRM, 8%
  • Java, 8%
  • Cloud, 8%
  • Product Management, 5%
  • Lifecycle Management, 5%
Common staff software engineer skills
  • Java, 18%
  • Python, 8%
  • Software Development, 7%
  • Architecture, 6%
  • Object Oriented Programming, 3%
  • Linux, 3%

Browse computer and mathematical jobs