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The differences between team lead 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 team lead engineer and a senior principal engineer. Additionally, a senior principal engineer has an average salary of $130,642, which is higher than the $114,867 average annual salary of a team lead engineer.
The top three skills for a team lead engineer include python, architecture and java. The most important skills for a senior principal engineer are python, architecture, and java.
| Team Lead Engineer | Senior Principal Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $114,867 | $130,642 |
| Hourly rate | $55.22 | $62.81 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 235,155 | 272,459 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A team leads engineer is in charge of spearheading and overseeing the efforts of an engineering team, ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. Although the duties may depend on one's industry of employment, it typically includes designing and developing systems according to project requirements, setting objectives and construction guidelines, delegating tasks, managing budgets and schedules, and monitoring the workflow, performing corrective measures as needed. Furthermore, as a team leads engineer, it is essential to encourage the workforce to reach goals, all while enforcing the company's safety standards and regulations.
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.
Team lead engineers and senior principal engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Team Lead Engineer | Senior Principal Engineer | |
| Average salary | $114,867 | $130,642 |
| Salary range | Between $84,000 And $156,000 | Between $93,000 And $182,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | Airbnb |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Professional |
There are a few differences between a team lead engineer and a senior principal engineer in terms of educational background:
| Team Lead Engineer | Senior Principal Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between team lead engineers' and senior principal engineers' demographics:
| Team Lead Engineer | Senior Principal Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 86.7% Female, 13.3% | Male, 88.2% Female, 11.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.3% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.0% Asian, 14.5% White, 68.5% 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% |