How many years does it take to become a principal engineer at Google? (2024)

FAQs

How many years does it take to become a principal engineer at Google? ›

Minimum qualifications:

Becoming a Principal Engineer typically takes around 10 to 20 years of experience and career progression, depending on factors like education, industry, and individual performance. These timeframes are general estimates, and individual experiences may vary.

Principal Engineer (Level 8 | Director) Distinguished Engineer (Level 9 | Senior Director) Google Fellow (Level 10 | Vice President)

Since both senior and principal engineers are leadership roles, both require years of experience. Many companies require between ten to fifteen years of experience. Some firms require prospective principal engineers serve as senior engineers for a few years prior to advancing.

The estimated total pay range for a Principal Engineer at Google is $420K–$660K per year, which includes base salary and additional pay. The average Principal Engineer base salary at Google is $247K per year.

The average principal engineer age is 40 years old.

Google L7 Software Engineer Salary in United States | $676K-$905K+ | Levels.

L7(Level 7): Senior Staff Software Engineer

This level is equivalent to a Senior Manager role with 10+ years of experience.

Google L8 Sales Salary in United States | $630K-$1.1M+ | Levels.

What is the highest salary for a principal engineer? ›

Very High Confidence means the data is based on a large number of latest salaries. Senior Principal Engineer salary in India ranges between ₹ 12.6 Lakhs to ₹ 60.0 Lakhs with an average annual salary of ₹ 30.2 Lakhs. Salary estimates are based on 1.6k latest salaries received from Senior Principal Engineers.

In summation, while there is some overlap in their duties, the defining difference is that a Principal Engineer delves deeper into technical intricacies, whereas an Engineering Manager leans more towards team leadership and project orchestration.

The Principal Engineer role acts as the individual equivalent of a Senior Engineering Manager, Development. Collaborates and makes proposals across several teams on their engineering work, and helps their team members make informed decisions in alignment with the sub-department strategic plans.

What is the highest salary in Google? The highest-paying job at Google is a Devops Consultant with a salary of ₹248.4 Lakhs per year. The top 10% of employees earn more than ₹70 lakhs per year. The top 1% earn more than a whopping ₹150 lakhs per year.

By level 10 you're a Google fellow (there are only around 12 of these, so like a GS partner except more rarefied - although known as a "VP" in Google-world). And if you're at level 11 ("senior fellow" or "senior VP"), you're in the stratosphere with Google stars like Sanjay Ghemawat and Jeff Dean.

The average Google Principal Engineer earns $230,250 annually, which includes a base salary of $175,000 with a $55,250 bonus. This total compensation is $72,019 more than the US average for a Principal Engineer.

A software architect is just a few levels below being an executive, while principal engineers are usually more in the middle of a career track.

Get principal engineer experience

Generally, it takes 4-6 years to become a principal engineer. The most common roles before becoming a principal engineer include senior engineer, senior software engineer team lead and software engineer.

*The Principal Engineer reports to the Senior Engineering Manager, Development.