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The differences between vice presidents, software development and principal 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 vice president, software development and a principal software engineer. Additionally, a vice president, software development has an average salary of $137,241, which is higher than the $134,230 average annual salary of a principal software engineer.
The top three skills for a vice president, software development include cloud, java and QA. The most important skills for a principal software engineer are java, python, and software development.
| Vice President, Software Development | Principal Software Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $137,241 | $134,230 |
| Hourly rate | $65.98 | $64.53 |
| Growth rate | 21% | 21% |
| Number of jobs | 304,247 | 345,893 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
The vice president of software development handles all efforts put into software development and follows subsequent sales processes for the organization they work in. They have a ton of duties to perform, but foremost on the list is to routinely conduct research into new technology and contribute ideas that will improve productivity. They have a few supervisory duties to perform, like managing multiple employees' teams, as well as administrative duties, like delegating tasks and creating teams.
A Principal Software Engineer is responsible for the technical aspects of an organization's projects. They diagnose, document, and troubleshoot systems to resolve problems identified through testing, as well as implement strategies to improve integration and efficiency.
Vice presidents, software development and principal software engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Vice President, Software Development | Principal Software Engineer | |
| Average salary | $137,241 | $134,230 |
| Salary range | Between $104,000 And $179,000 | Between $98,000 And $182,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Seattle, WA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | Pacific Investment Management Company LLC | |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Retail |
There are a few differences between a vice president, software development and a principal software engineer in terms of educational background:
| Vice President, Software Development | Principal Software Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Stanford University | California State University - Long Beach |
Here are the differences between vice presidents, software development' and principal software engineers' demographics:
| Vice President, Software Development | Principal Software Engineer | |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 90.1% Female, 9.9% | Male, 87.5% Female, 12.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.6% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 8.4% Asian, 27.6% White, 54.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 4.4% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.2% Asian, 29.9% White, 52.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 8% |