I'm an E6 that has no problem with titles. I've got a fairly common E6 for my YoE (about 8-9 YoE) and TC at about 550-600k(yeah it keeps dropping) for a top tier Bay area tech company (basically Goog, Netflix, Airbnb, Uber, Lyft, Twitter etc pays about that much and you can find significant portion of Staff engs starting their YoE around mine)
Anyhow, Amazon recruiters are keep asking me for Sr SDE roles. Whenever I ask them about principal sde roles they all ghost me.
So far I've only got contacted with 1 Sr EM who explained me why i wouldn't be a good fit for his team as a PE since their team is looking for a specialist.
Amazon L6(Sr SDE) is like E5.5 literally. Comp isn't as high as E6, responsibilities are also not as much as E6. It also seems like there's a big gap that Principal Engs need to have specialization, where for FB/Meta you don't.
Now I find it hard to believe that a place like Amazon isn't even considering me for Principal SDE when they're known for PIPing hard. I thought, worst case they realize I'm not producing the expected outcome 6-12 months later and PIP me. But it's not the case.
I also realized that Amazon's pay structure is a bit weird. In a way that:
3 YoEs can get L5 offer paying them 450k
Then they expect 10 YoE to accept L6 and only paying them 550k
This shows to me that Amazon isn't really looking for experienced SWEs since the reward isn't high.
I do believe that if Amazon believes it needs people like me (who is a high performing L6 but not L7 yet) then Amazon could split either L6 into two or L7 into two like how Uber does with their L5A and L5B and pay that role 650-850k. And yes Amazon should pay more than other companies because your WLB and perks are worse.
I'm writing this for 2 purposes:
1) Maybe some HR at Amazon or VP could read and take action.
2) Would like to hear EMs/Director's opinion on whether they are hiring Principal or L6 engs and struggling with that.
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comments
Amazon leadership often jokes they want missionaries not mercenaries
At 10 YoE what makes you think 650k is not justified?
When you think how likely Amazon is able to find someone who’s good enough for the same role at cheaper comp target. The conclusion you’ll get is very likely for most roles
If I look at your profile, you don't fit into either of the areas. You may be highly skilled, but there is a lack of datapoint for EMs/BRs and the cost of mistake is high given L7 scope can be vast in Amazon (there was a time when massive orgs in retail side would have a single PE).
Maybe the right idea is as you suggested to have a level in between. I think this works well for lateral hires, but becomes yet another step for people going through internal promotions.
As for comp, Amazon is known to target “mid-market”. In the past years, Amazon has relied upon stock growth to ensure the comp is competitive.
But that is a discussion for a different post. 😀