Also called: Distinguished Engineer, Tech Lead
A top-level individual engineer who sets technical direction across many teams without managing people.
You might spend the morning untangling a gnarly outage, the afternoon writing a design document that four teams will follow, and the evening mentoring junior engineers. People come to you when nobody else can solve the problem.
At large tech companies, total compensation including stock often exceeds $300k-$500k.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 12 years after high school. Bachelor's typical; usually 10+ years of experience.
Ways in: 4-year college, On-the-job training. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Computer Science, Software Engineering.
Growing much faster than average (about 10% over 10 years). Grouped with software developers by BLS.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. Senior engineers who set direction and review AI output are in demand, though fewer junior paths lead here.
Classes: AP Computer Science A, AP Calculus, Speech or debate.
Official data: O*NET occupation 15-1252.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.