How many distinguished engineers at google Help; Learn to edit; Community portal; Recent changes; Upload file; Special pages Jul 6, 2024 · Pathway to Distinguished Engineer and Beyond: Exceptional Senior Principal SDEs may advance to the role of Distinguished Engineer (Level 10), where they will have even greater influence and responsibilities. This role requires a combination of technical expertise and leadership skills. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering at University of Washington (on leave). May 24, 2024 · Level 9 – Distinguished Software Engineer Like level 8, the software engineers at level 9 are primarily responsible for creating effective technical strategies. 4M subscribers in the ProgrammerHumor community. This is the level most engineers are at internally within Google. Wondering how likely it is for your average engineer to make it to higher positions (senior, staff, principal, etc) at FAANG+ companies. Example of the various levels at Google leading up to principal engineer: L8, Principal Engineer at Google, is in fact at par with Distinguished Engineer at Amazon or Distinguished Engineer(DE) at Microsoft. Jul 28, 2024 · Google‘s Distinguished Engineers lead orgs of hundreds to thousands of other engineers, with total budgets often exceeding $100M. Engineers apply the knowledge of math & science to design and manufacture maintainable systems used to solve specific problems. For example, in my 200-engineer organization called “Money,” we had 2 Staff engineers (L6) and no L7 or L8 engineers in 2016-2018. at L4. If you make it to a principal engineer your total income is probably $600-800k a year. e. , principal software development engineer, and roughly equivalent to Google’s L7) are paid roughly $222,714 in salary, along with $226,000 per year in stock options, and a bonus of $73,143. There are several routes to DE on the technical career path: Jun 3, 2022 · With more than 25 years’ experience, Mr Grasso-Nguyen has worked for many different tech companies, including the last 14 years at global giant Google, where he held various senior positions in software development as well as networking and site reliability engineering. An Engineering Director at Google leads a team of talented engineers, drives technical innovation, and shapes the future of Google’s products and services. IBM Distinguished Engineers are corporate appointments. 5M annually. For anything funny related to programming and software development. Past that it’s really difficult as a developer to get promoted but you make over $1m a year, but you’re leading hundreds of other engineers and dozens of teams. They are responsible for setting the technical vision and spearheading innovation at the highest level. 9. Jun 6, 2024 · 1. Communication, collaboration, visionary outlook, and mentorship will come naturally to distinguished engineers. Apr 22, 2025 · Google’s engineering hierarchy ranges from entry-level to distinguished engineers, each with increasing responsibilities. Distinguished engineers are responsible for leading complex technical projects and driving innovation within their organizations. L3 (Software Engineer): Entry-level engineers with 0-2 years of experience. May 14, 2020 · L3 - Full time, entry level Software Engineer, also known as the “new grad level”. At my level as a senior myself and another peer guide ~25 engineers in technical direction. At Google, Software Engineer levels start at "L3 / SWE II" for junior developers, to "L10 / Google Fellow the highest salary engineering position, networking or otherwise, in many corps is "distinguished" or "senior principal" and they generally make as much as VP and SVP level management. Many engineers at this level who fail to progress to L6 often feel stuck, and not getting the L6 promotion is often a big reason why they leave. Big tech companies like Google are the most sought-after workplaces on the ground. Jan 13, 2022 · A Google director of engineering with 16 years of experience at Amazon, Apple and PayPal, said they earn $1. Jan 1, 2023 · You are pursuing many complex incremental changes instead of just building new/shiny pieces of technology. This position represents the highest level of technical leadership at Amazon. Google Engineering Levels. Google’s leveling system is similar to Amazon’s, with a strong focus on technical excellence and impact. Engineering Director. 4K votes, 507 comments. The average salary for a Senior Software Engineer at Google is approximately $188,284 per year, while an entry-level software engineer earns around $132,190 per year. Overall goal is to keep the engineers functioning smoothly and producing high quality output. To qualify for the same, you need to possess exceptional skills and 10+ years of experience. The median total compensation package for a L9 at Google is $2,276,030. Some of these include: 1. The 5 Tech Giants (Google, Apple, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft) collectively employ well over 150k+ engineers in the US. Google Fellows are usually the world Mike Dahlin is an Engineering Fellow at Google where he works as the technical lead for Google Compute Engine. The average base salary of an SWE-III is $274K per year. While exact figures can vary, it is estimated that a Distinguished Engineer at Google can earn a base salary ranging from $250,000 to $400,000 per year. According to levels. At the pinnacle of Meta’s engineering ladder, Distinguished Engineers are: Leaders of entire organizations or core product areas. Feb 7, 2025 · Engineers who design and maintain the backend frameworks for Google Search, YouTube, and Google Ads often progress to Principal Engineer and Distinguished Engineer levels. L3(Level 3): Software Engineer II. Sep 9, 2021 · They act as advisors to managers, advocating for technologies and platforms. So I found this list online for Google L3: Software Engineer II L4: Software Engineer III L5: Senior Engineer L6: Staff Engineer L7: Senior Staff Engineer L8: Principal Engineer L9: Distinguished Engineer L10: Google Fellow L11: Senior Google Fellow Jun 8, 2023 · How many hours do Google software engineers work? A Google software engineer’s hours range from 40-50 hours per week. An undergraduate or master’s degree engineer is a good fit at L3 with 0-1 years of experience. Google L9 Software Engineer (Distinguished SDE) We focus on the Google SDE levels for the IC track on this page, but for reference we included the Google Engineering I'm a staff level engineer and currently the tech lead of a group of 40 engineers across 6 teams. Learn about Site Reliability Engineering Careers Hear about the SRE Employee Experience Level 9 (Distinguished Engineer) Distinguished Engineers at Level 9 are among the top experts in the company. 2024 salary for distinguished engineers. The projects they oversee power products with billions of monthly active users, generating significant portions of Google‘s $200B+ in annual revenue. Dec 4, 2020 · Prior to Microsoft, Burns was a senior staff software engineer at Google, where he was the lead engineer on Kubernetes. Aug 28, 2024 · L9 and above - Distinguished Engineer/Google Fellow: Top technical leaders, often responsible for industry-wide impact, innovation, and representing Google in the broader tech community. L5- Senior Software Engineer: 6-9 years of industry experience. E9 Distinguished Engineer: In the US, these engineers earn over $2. L4 - 1-5 years of industry experience, sometimes awarded to high potential new grads and PhDs. 5-4k+ engineers in the US on payroll. In this article at OpenGenus, we have listed the different job levels and grades at Google (Google Hierarchy/ org structure/ technical ladder) along with average salary range at USA and India offices and average experience. His most influential Berkeley projects likely were RISC and RAID. Probably for the better half of 10 years. Senior Software Engineer (Level 5) Google senior software engineer level is a software engineering Manager I equivalent. Among thousands of engineers at Meta, fewer than 50 (less than 1%) achieve this level. In all, he’s been working on database software for 15 years, including 10 years as a hands-on developer and three to four years as an architect He has been a manager for the last two or three years. However I think I may want to look into becoming a Principal Engineer/Architect or a Distinguished Engineer/Architect. Distinguished Engineer: $270K to $470K: 17 to 25 years: 80+ Technical Fellow: $390K to $1M+ 25+ years: There are two tracks in Microsoft: Technical track; Management Aug 1, 2019 · Compare Google’s data to Microsoft, where engineers who hit level 67 (i. 2. David Patterson received BA, MS, and PhD degrees from UCLA. L6: SDE3 / Senior SDE Nov 30, 2021 · Peter Vosshall, one of Amazon’s Distinguished Engineers, kicked off the 3-day offsite with his traditional greeting: “The State of the Union is strong. AskEngineers is a forum for questions about the technologies, standards, and processes used to design & build these systems, as well as for questions about the engineering profession and its many disciplines. Google comes to mind as a place where it can be similarly challenging to get promoted to the Senior Engineer level (which is called L5 at Google, just to make it more confusing). It has various software, senior, staff, and other employees. 🦉 Advice: Pursue the most impactful projects and navigate the company to make them happen. Feb 16, 2025 · Level 4 software engineers at Google are expected to have a minimum of 2 to 4 years of experience or a Ph. Above senior, there's no single right way to progress (into staff, principal, distinguished engineer, etc). 5 million in total compensation. Microsoft: I know exactly why. Feb 13, 2019 · Distinguished Engineers, the Level 9s, are spoken of with reverence. Mar 9, 2025 · Google (now Alphabet) hires a lot of engineers every year. Sep 1, 2023 · “Distinguished engineers are the visionaries who shape the technology strategies of their organizations. Apr 20, 2023 · Uber’s L6, staff engineer level, remained one where engineers owned complex, organization-wide projects, and vacancies for this level were rare. Google is known for its competitive compensation packages, and Distinguished Engineers at Google are among the highest-paid professionals in the industry. ” – Urs Hölzle, Senior Vice President at Google Roles and Responsibilities of Distinguished Engineers. Based on this information, plan your career at Google. Oct 27, 2023 · Google has 40,000 engineers in different departments. The median total compensation package for a L8 at Google is $1,118,148. Out of that, it has over 27,000 software engineers making it a hub for technology. He has also taught computer science as an assistant professor at Union College. The Googler shared how they were recruited and offered Hank joined Google in 2020, where he is a Distinguished Engineer and co-leader (with David Culler) of SystemsResearch@Google. As you’d expect from such a senior position, a distinguished engineer’s salary doesn’t disappoint. These individuals have demonstrated exceptional technical expertise and have consistently delivered outstanding contributions to Google’s projects and initiatives. Sufficient tenure is required to reach the highest levels. fyi, around 30% of big tech SWEs are seniors, 10% staff/sr staff and 3% principal+. The average Distinguished Software Engineer base salary at Google is $269K per year. D. I didn't even think it was possible to layoff anyone of that caliber. He is a UC Berkeley Pardee professor emeritus, a Google distinguished engineer since 2016, the RIOS Laboratory Director, and the RISC-V International Vice-Chair. I really want to lead bigger projects and initiatives. What are some examples of successful principal engineers at Google? There are many examples of successful principal engineers at Google who have made significant contributions to the organization. As a senior software engineer I've already lead many large projects. ” Here we were, the three hundred or so What is a distinguished engineer at Google? Additionally, many Google engineers receive stock-based compensation which can range from $30,000 to $100,000 per year. My library Dec 7, 2021 · At Facebook, Software Engineer levels run from E3 for junior-level software developers, to E9 for more distinguished engineers. Apr 10, 2025 · The estimated total pay range for a Distinguished Software Engineer at Google is $469K–$772K per year, which includes base salary and additional pay. Level 9 is quite a distinguished position at Google, and the engineers at this level are called Distinguished engineers. Understanding these levels helps in career planning, salary expectations, and growth opportunities within Google’s tech landscape. Let’s explore each level in detail! May 24, 2024 · Google has a tier-based (level-based) system for Software Engineers, from Level 3 (Software Engineer II) to Level 11 (Senior Google Fellow). May 26, 2023 · Google Software Engineer Levels: Levels 9-10. There are more or less common archetypes (which tend to come out in the case studies I linked), but every org's a little different, has different needs, and will require different things of folks who want to contribute at a staff+ level. there's also the architect track, which is similar to the engineer track where titles are concerned but usually comes with a higher salary. Alex Martelli: Alex is a principal engineer at Google with a long track record of technical achievement. Because people are human and software engineering does pay pretty well. Contact the Google Recruiting Team to learn more about becoming a Principal Engineer, Distinguished Engineer, or Fellow at Google. E9 – Distinguished Engineer. He is also Professor and Wissner-Slivka Chair in the Paul G. Many at Google were doubtful of Jan 2, 2025 · E9+: Distinguished Engineer. Google interviews for software engineers mostly do not focus on the candidate's resume or prior experien Dec 26, 2024 · L10+ (Distinguished Engineer, VP, or CTO): Visionary roles driving Amazon’s technological innovation. In over a decade working on the Google Cloud Platform, he worked with teams launching several generations of GCE’s products, improving reliability and efficiency across GCP, and leveraging cross-layer optimizations for scaling ML data centers. Distinguished Engineer (L9 at Pinterest): 🏋♀️ Skill: Combine strong business acumen with technical expertise to lead large, impactful projects. We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. It is also dependent on workload, project structure, and workflow. Sep 21, 2023 · An intern in the final year of an engineering degree or a fresh college graduate is hired at L2. It depends on how many engineers at Google are working on a project at the same time and the urgency of the project. The expected career path for technical distinction at IBM is the technical career path. Google hires engineers with 2-4 years of experience or a Ph. Also rough promotion timelines, if you know them. L4(Level 4): Software Engineer III. Equivalent to CTOs of their domains, capable of navigating all layers of decision-making. 3. Those skilled in distributed computing, fault-tolerant architecture, and database scaling techniques (such as Spanner, BigTable, and MapReduce) can command salaries in the $1 Dec 3, 2018 · Distinguished Engineers, the Level 9s, are spoken of with reverence. Title, age: Engineer - 23, 25, 29 Senior Engineer - 25, 26, 29, 38, 42, 45 Staff Engineer - 32, 37, 39 Senior Staff Engineer - 40 Many of these people have been at their current title for a few years and will probably be promoted in the coming months. Jul 3, 2000 · Peter Spiro, another of Microsoft’s new Distinguished Engineers, manages the core SQL Server engineering team. Their work has a company-wide impact, and they play a major role in shaping Google’s technology and product development. Level 10 – Google Fellow The software engineers at Level 10 are known as vice presidents, who lead thousands of engineers in leading technical contributions. There are articles out there about the interview process and how to prepare, and I do definitely recommend spending time in preparation. You are a great coach, and people follow you. At Amazon, Software Engineer levels instead start at "SDE I" for junior developers, to "Distinguished Engineer". To become a Google Fellow, a Level 10, is to win an honor that will follow you for life. Check out this chart to see how everything matches up: Search the world's most comprehensive index of full-text books. Then a chunk of other high paying publicly traded companies with like 0. Level 9 . I wonder what the calculus there was. Level 10 Learn what a distinguished software engineer does, and how to develop the technical skills, leadership skills, innovation skills, and impact that this role requires. May 15, 2024 · As of the latest available information, Google has a total of 100 distinguished engineers. Feb 2, 2023 · Incredible, Google laid off a L9 Distinguished Software Engineer. . Anyway I've been a senior software engineer for awhile. May 30, 2024 · Many software engineering graduates are holding promising positions in tech giants straight out of university. Leadership is most important, being a reliable interface between higher ups and the teams. A software developer at level 5 enjoys autonomy and has To give you a better of idea of titles vs age, the 'average' title on my team is senior engineer. View more Software Engineer salary ranges with breakdowns by base, stock, and bonus amounts. It takes between two to four years for the average Google engineer to be promoted to each level. Needless to say, thinking of working for Google, people would come up with a rosy picture of six-figure remuneration. But making ~$100k (average software engineer salary in the US) and then being told a small but real number of engineers make 50-100 times that can be a rare humbling/humiliating feeling after being proud for so long for what they make. Responsible for solving the most challenging and high-stakes problems. snsftiqrzewxcvpcxsyjbfpoistqznobsinpijscorgypszjadceqsfezapdqwdujenoka