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The differences between staff design engineers and 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 staff design engineer and a principal engineer. Additionally, a principal engineer has an average salary of $130,213, which is higher than the $128,071 average annual salary of a staff design engineer.
The top three skills for a staff design engineer include architecture, RF and CAD. The most important skills for a principal engineer are java, architecture, and python.
| Staff Design Engineer | Principal Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $128,071 | $130,213 |
| Hourly rate | $61.57 | $62.60 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 154,963 | 312,683 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Average age | 45 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
Staff design engineers are tasked to assess the efficiency of instruments, technologies, and equipment by collaborating with the engineering team to plan, design, and develop technologies efficiently. Their responsibilities include building and setting up, as wells as improving systems and procedures. They should possess strong attention to detail, good visual and spatial awareness, creativity, problem-solving, excellent verbal, written, and project management skills, and strong mathematical and IT skills to become efficient and effective staff design engineers.
A principal engineer is responsible for monitoring the overall design phase of the construction process, including coordinating with the client for progress and updates, as well as performing adjustments as needed based on clients' specifications and requirements. Principal engineers also inspect the materials and resources used to ensure that the project stays within the budget goals and set timeframe. They should have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in preparing reports and training new staff.
Staff design engineers and principal engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Staff Design Engineer | Principal Engineer | |
| Average salary | $128,071 | $130,213 |
| Salary range | Between $89,000 And $182,000 | Between $95,000 And $177,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Mateo, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | HBO | Grubhub |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Telecommunication |
There are a few differences between a staff design engineer and a principal engineer in terms of educational background:
| Staff Design Engineer | Principal Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northeastern University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between staff design engineers' and principal engineers' demographics:
| Staff Design Engineer | Principal Engineer | |
| Average age | 45 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 75.7% Female, 24.3% | Male, 92.6% Female, 7.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.7% Asian, 23.8% White, 57.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 16.6% White, 67.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 5% |