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Where on EARTH are you seeing a Sr. Designer make 200k. Surely a tech company?
I know multiple ppl in the Canadian market making over 220k TC for senior roles (lvl 5-6)
Senior, Lead (also called Staff at some companies), and Principal, are steps on the Individual Contributor path for a designer. If you are a Senior, then your next promotion, or step up, will be to Lead/Staff. Next step after that will be Principal. Not sure how you could just “pivot” to Principal 😄 it takes a lot of skill and experience to get there. At Principal level, your soft skills will be much more important than hard skills. You will be expected to elevate your team and your org. You will be setting standards, mentoring, and maybe even managing a few people. All this in addition to doing the actual design work. Not easy 😅. Of course, a lot depends on the specific company and team. In my experience (tech in SF), base pay for Sr is about $130-$170, Lead is about $170–$200, Sr Lead $190-$230, Principal $220-$260+. Of course, bonuses and equity are additional and vary greatly by company.
I’ve also heard of co workers getting huge bumps after leaving. Thank you for the info and encouragement! This added context is making me realize it’s time to make some moves.
My assumption of the structure is principal/staff designer is higher than Sr UX designer. I report to the principal/director at my company.
The point of IC track is to not manage though I thought. That's weird.
I feel these titles vary so much depending on where you are at. YOE, as well as your personal skills (I’ve met some designers with 12+ YOE, but lack so much else that I’d take a younger hire instead) are really what should guide you / future hiring managers.
Or maybe I set the bar high? 🙃
Knowing how to do them vs doing them well can be a different ballgame. 🤓
Mentor
I wish that were the norm 🤑
Coach
yes