What is the difference between these senior software engineer titles?

Posted by stackoverflowuser2010 on Programmers See other posts from Programmers or by stackoverflowuser2010
Published on 2011-02-10T18:27:00Z Indexed on 2011/02/10 23:33 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 297

Filed under:

career

|

career-advice

|

job

I'm currently a senior research software engineer at a large company and am being offered a "senior staff engineer" position somewhere else. I am not sure if the new position's title conveys a sideways move or an advancement.

So, all other things being roughly equal (salary, domain of expertise, etc.), what is the external difference between these software engineer titles (in general and regardless of any particular company, if possible):

senior engineer
senior research engineer
senior staff engineer
member of technical staff
principal engineer

Edit: Let me elaborate on "member of technical staff" since it's kind of uncommon. I think it's a high title, commonly associated with research. I know that Oracle, VMWare, and the old Bell Labs have these titles. See: Member of Technical Staff . I know what it means, but I don't know how it stacks up against the other titles, which is why I asked.

© Programmers or respective owner

Related posts about career

Career Advice for a career shifter

as seen on Programmers - Search for 'Programmers'
Hi! I am an industrial engineer and last May 2010 at the age of 25, I resigned from my job and decided to have a career shift to IT. I am studying again and so far learned the basics of the following programming languages: C, Java (SE), MySql, html, css, javascript. I am really just a beginner in… >>> More
SysAdmin Career Question: Internal or Client Based

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
ServerFault Community, It seems there are two positions SysAdmins find themselves in, either you are working for a non-IT services based single client (your employer) and providing in-house IT support or you work for a company who provides out sourced IT services to multiple clients. Right now… >>> More
database Career Path

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
i'm working as sql server datebase developer , i wanna database career path , all rquirements and knowlage for ever title in Career path >>> More
Why is Java .Net so slow? [closed]

as seen on Programmers - Search for 'Programmers'
Ive just tried to use atmosphere.java.net (to see what it is) and I am not able to do it. Why is Java .NET so slow? Is it because they used Java in the server and are as incompetent as people whom write questions for SCJP? Does Sun have any competent employee and have you ever saw one ? (except the… >>> More
Which order would you teach programming languages in, when teaching a newbie?

as seen on Programmers - Search for 'Programmers'
If you had to design a study program, with a breadth-of-programming-languages requirement, which stated that the student should be exposed to all major concepts and methodologies that can be taught through (at the minimum) 6 programming languages, which programming languages would you choose to teach… >>> More

Related posts about career-advice

Please help me, I need some solid career advice, put myself in a dumb situation

as seen on Programmers - Search for 'Programmers'
Hi, First off, I just want to say thank you in advance for looking at my question and would really value your input on this subject. My core question is how do I proceed from the following predicament. I will be honest with you, I wasted my College Experience. I slacked off and didn't take… >>> More
Career Advice for a career shifter

as seen on Programmers - Search for 'Programmers'
Hi! I am an industrial engineer and last May 2010 at the age of 25, I resigned from my job and decided to have a career shift to IT. I am studying again and so far learned the basics of the following programming languages: C, Java (SE), MySql, html, css, javascript. I am really just a beginner in… >>> More
Career advice: I am best at what I hate most

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I think my career has entered a vicious circle which I would like to exit: I am best at what I hate most. And because I am good at that, I always receive that kind of assignments, and I do them as expected or even better. Which makes me more of an expert and brings me more similar tasks. My "expertise"… >>> More
Career Advice for a Bright Future [closed]

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I've completed my 12th . Now i am in a big dilemma . Coming to engineering , there are a lot of branches to choose. My elders and mentors suggested me to go for cse . But in this scenario of global meltdown , the cse boom had crushed down drastically . Are there chances for its regrowth . Please reply… >>> More
Career advice for a frustrated newbie programmer.

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Hi, all. This is my first year as a programmer. The programming language that I'm most familiar with is Python. I am maintaining a web2py based legacy system, alone, which means I have to grow up as an all-rounder. The original programmers on this project are nowhere to find, and there are hardly… >>> More