Iirc, staff SWE is Google's equivalent of Principal Engineer.

I think Google has principal engineers as well - a staff engineer at Google probably is equivalent to a principal engineer at most companies though.

For someone not working in tech, what is the difference between an engineer and a principal engineer?

It (staff) is a level, one past senior engineer.

The difference is that senior engineers do something resembling engineering. When not attending meetings, I turn coffee into emails and Google docs.

> The difference is that senior engineers do something resembling engineering. When not attending meetings, I turn coffee into emails and Google docs.

I like you.

The Principal has a very distinguished and widely-recognized track record of achievement.

What's interesting here is the social dimension of this. It's not enough that you are competent and have achievements. They key is that your achievements are recognized socially.

principal engineer is when you want to give someone more salary but they dont wanna be a manager