Google l6 staff engineer salary reddit Google - not every team is great, but the floor for teams is still much higher. 5 in terms of pay at least. This is my second time interviewing with Google. Honestly, don't worry about it. Yes, range at L7 is wide, but that’s for the new hires. Im a senior engineer at Amazon, I got promoted last summer and my comp got set to $210k salary and ~$140-160k in RSUs vesting twice a year. Most sourcing and hiring Google does goes up to level 6 (or L6). They are just on different tracks. Looking for advice on what traits to develop in the meantime to get there. They're not Canadian, so that one's not you. he worked there for 5 years and never got They'll index on different ones for each level (L4 at Amazon will have more Learn and Be Curious, L6 will have more Dive Deep, Disagree and Commit, Hire and Develop the best). L6 can be and in most cases is a terminal level. 3mn. With phd and experience, you could push for E6 (staff engineer) I'm not anywhere close to being a senior engineer but the near-FAANG company I work at has salaries for positions wildly higher than the ones listed here. This includes base salary, bonuses, and stock options, reflecting the high level of responsibility and expertise required at this level. If you find out anything let me know. Why is this? In most fields, managers tend to make much more than those who work for them. 10+ years of experience would be comparable to senior engineer (L6). 00 in total compensation per year for employees in the 25th percentile to $424,953. Facebook has 2 apps for 2 million each, while Google's highest paid H1B is only making $1. Various sources suggest typical L6 TC of about 450-550 after a few years. I've tried fyi. I decided I wanted to go back and do an MS last year and I could afford it so that's what I'm doing at the moment. This information was last updated on May 2, 2025. Advancement beyond L6 as an engineer is rare. Yes, there are companies that offer more. Ignore comp as it's much different than Google. Typically having strategic impact over some combination of a large work group, a very technically challenging problem, and/or a long time horizon L6 influences velocity of team, mentorship, 10-30 Engineers Oct 5, 2024 · A higher base salary provides more certain and immediate pay, while a greater equity allocation offers potentially lucrative upside if the stock price rises. The first time I couldn't solve 4/5 questions. Facebook/Google round out the top 10 for Software Engineering salaries in H1B, presumably this is for top tier ML talent/leadership. May 24, 2024 · Level 6 – Staff Software Engineer With 10+ years of expertise, level 6 software engineers at Google are in the top 10 per cent of exceptionally qualified engineers who manage engineering teams and earn a salary of $ 232,219 yearly. I wonder if whoever disclosed these 17 votes, 40 comments. Spotify Software Engineering - Senior. Trying to find L3 Paygrade. 5 years of experience. 127 - 230K for a VR engineer seems to be a very lowball estimate, since that's a really niche field without too many "cheap talent" (like say, web dev). true. my brother has worked for google for about 7 years, started out around $150k (very high salary for a SWE back in 2015) and now makes $550k. On the other hand, you get more cash up front. Background. fyi collects anonymous and verified salaries from current and former employees of Google . Edit 1: IC = Individual contributor(non manager) If you are including stocks, please also share the fixed component After all, the major delta between a senior engineer and a staff engineer (assuming high bars for both of these levels) is the scope of their work. It’s a different thing whether you consider it not Senior enough based on opinion but that is the factual hierarchy. 9 cr Software Engineering. I'm at Google, and I've seen a few cases of people climbing to senior/staff quite fast (e. It falls between the L5 and L7 levels and is often referred to as a Staff Engineer or Senior Staff Engineer position. 4 days ago · Google undefined salary ranges from $193,734. It requires a good mix of skill, hard work, and luck (right opportunity to show impact). ICT{n} stands for Individual Contributor track. The biggest thing you're missing is roles with the same name have different levels of responsibility between the companies. Dec 8, 2024 · Google L6 (Staff SWE) offer. Base: 222k, bonus 20%, sign on $50k, GSU $900k Salary Range for Google L6 Engineering Manager. Hi team, I'm in the early stage of negotiating an L6 SWE offer, and trying to reconcile some of the very high RSU figures reported here with the total comp figures. 100% not a scam. That is a common mistake I see on these subs all the time. L5 is Senior SWE, L6 is Staff, L7 is Senior Staff. 5? -Senior Engineer E3? - Senior Specialist E4? -Staff -Principle Sep 9, 2023 · How to be Staff Engineer at Google? Currently an L5 going for promo in a couple of quarters. Pretty happy, L6 offer. The career tech ladder in terms of positions is identical to that at Google . Most business people draw least salary or don’t even show income. e. But it is also dependent on domain. 70% of people in Google at any level get SI rating and very similar comp. L4 - 1-5 years of industry experience, sometimes awarded to high potential new grads and PhDs. Feb 12, 2024 · 2) How Does L6 Level Differ from Other Levels at Google? The L6 level at Google is one of the mid-level positions within the company’s organizational hierarchy. Blind compiles anonymous and verified salary data from both present and past Google employees. On the other end of the spectrum, many companies offer salaries in the 300-400M range. Apr 10, 2025 · The estimated total pay range for a Staff Software Engineer L6 at Google is $443K–$691K per year, which includes base salary and additional pay. Google targets the 75th percentile of the market for salaries and total compensation. It's really not common. Search 300k+ salaries for different companies, job titles, career levels, and locations. Google did not even accept my resume. RSU grants is where the money is at, base is typically less then 50% of comp at those levels. It’s not a bad thing at all to remain as L6 for a very long time as an engineer. We definitely are growing in Toronto, probably in Vancouver, and have remote roles as a normal thing, not as a second-class-path. In terms of scope the majority of L7 engineers are technical leads for Director or VP-level orgs. , senior staff software engineer) can earn an annual salary of up to $270,650 per year, coupled with $406,100 in stock options and a bonus of $81,900. Jul 16, 2022 · What should be the L6 IC salary expectation for Bangalore? #tech #google YOE: 10 Current TC: 1. Title: Senior Staff ML Engineer Tenure length: 3 years Location: SF Bay Area Salary: $300k Company/Industry: Tech Education: PhD Prior Experience: 4yrs Industry, 5 yrs Postdoc Relocation/Signing Bonus: - Stock and/or recurring bonuses: $100k Annual bonus, $900k RSUs (stock had a good year and so did I) Total comp: $1. Been at Amazon for a while and just driving somewhat impactful projects to get to L6. An effective senior engineer can still work well within their individual impact, but as a staff engineer, there's an expectation to produce impact well beyond the capacity of your own individual Salaries are ridiculously high. 5 years. 4% and note the regional cost of living adjustments on the third tab, then you'll have an idea of where you stand. . Google Salary Ranges by Level and Role. The standard E5 (senior engineer) offer for FB London is slightly over £100k base salary and around £180k total comp. And Google was probably my #1 company at the time. My E3/E4 salary at Meta (circa 4 years ago) went: $110k -> $121k (GE) -> $160k (E4 promo) E3 salary these days based on levels fyi seems to be around $137k, with $37. View the base salary, stock, and bonus breakdowns for Google's total compensation packages. May 24, 2024 · The total compensation for a Staff Software Engineer (L6) at Google is approximately $518,446 annually. Understand that salaries exceeding 150+ TC exist, but lets be honest, these are purely FAANG, trading, quant firms, maybe banks. Amazon doesn't have a staff role so we just don't have a google L6 equivalent. 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 Regardless if you are engineer or management, making that much money is usually some sort of capped salary and given a lot of bonus and stock. You are expected to provide technical leadership to an engineering org with 100+ people. 25. There is no universal definition of Staff Engineer, Lead Engineer, Senior Engineer, Engineering Manager, Engineer 1, Engineer 2, Engineer 3, or even Intern. Jun 15, 2019 · Google L6 offer - initial RSU vs refresh. L2 - Software Engineering Intern, usually in senior year of a four year degree program. They also don't have yearly bonuses. L5-L6 at Amazon also takes on the order of 3-4 years, and comp increases at Amazon are sketchy at best. I’m at the bottom of the band, average for my role is probably a bit over $400k. Though if you make principal engineer, your base can definitely hit those numbers. L3 - Full time, entry level Software Engineer, also known as the “new grad level”. An L6 SDM manager makes slightly more than an L6 SDE at Amazon, etc. senior in 2, staff in another 2-2. This is one of the few areas where I think Google finally got the interview process right - the signals they look for at L6+ hiring rounds actually correlate somewhat better with on-the-job performance. 697 votes, 265 comments. (Zurich is 1/10 the size of London but Googles presence is roughly equal in both) I know someone with a salary of 90LPA with 10 yrs of experience, and he works at Google, Bangalore as an IC. fyi, which crowdsources salary data from the biggest tech companies, those Googlers at the L7 level (i. There are so many professions that can earn you a 50-60L salary, especially at senior roles. Can't speak for the 5YOE part, though there's probably folks who got to L6 in that much time . Those are more like L6/L7/L8 numbers not L5/L6/L7 as implied although admittedly some people are making the adjusted numbers but only because RSUs at some places have beat their price from when they get converted on start of employment. Levels. The majority would be white collar jobs. 5 years). When I interviewed at Google last year this was what the recruiter sent me for Staff requirements. At the industry standard level for staff, there is usually a branching into two tracks: IC and management. 00 for employees in the 90th percentile. 3M A subreddit for UCF students, faculty, and staff. If your spouse is an L7 SWE or Engineering Manager at Google, her comp award for first year (1 year after promotion) will be close to $750k at SI rating. E{n} stands for Engineer {n}. Bottom line $500k is very obtainable for senior engineers and managers at big tech. Multiply this by say ~2% COL raise times 5 years = 10. he has a friend who was just as smart and worked just as hard, who started at the same time but was placed on a team with less career advancement. Only non-formulaic parts are stock appreciation and additional equity. Comparing yourself to other people will drive you insane. Basically a floor TC if going in off in SF or NYC. 1 day ago · Software Engineer compensation in United States at Google ranges from $186K per year for L3 to $2. salaries, glassdoor but they are not clear and I don't quite understand the paygrades. View more Software Engineer salary ranges with breakdowns by base, stock, and bonus amounts. At the senior/staff/senior staff level this could easily be 4-500k/7-800k/1M at a FAANG. Education: BS YOE: 1. May 14, 2020 · Most sourcing and hiring Google does goes up to level 6 (or L6). Engineers usually cap in the 220k-240k base salary range, where upper management base salary caps around 300k, and both will be getting hefty bonuses, RSU, and other stock options. Felt more like level 5. I would say this aligns with what I've seen. You can be hired as L5 up to about 10 years from college, and even beyond in some cases, but if you stay as L5 after 4 years in level then it’s a signal to move on. The median yearly compensation in United States package totals $304K. For a Software Engineer with API Experience, Remote-Friendly (Travel-Required) with “at least 7 years building production full-stack software with a focus on usability” salary range is $300,000—$405,000 USD. L6 / Staff Software Engineer. Not only that, I had a referral. Explore our tools to help you get paid more! It's usually $300k total compensation, not base salary. The median total compensation package for a L7 at Google is $780,965. 5k yearly stock Glassdoor, payscale, etc are well known to present old data and misreport bonuses/stock. Given 4 years of experience is less than the average, I believe 450M would be reasonable. fyi, and noticed that FAANG SWE salaries are very close to manager salaries of the same level. The average additional pay is $287K per year, which could include cash bonus, stock, commission, profit sharing or tips. 5 years Target level: L3 Yeah I'm in the same boat. Tier depends on who you asked) as a staff engineer. They're non-management roles too. If you make it to a principal engineer your total income is probably $600-800k a year. I've found myself in a high level software engineering position (L6) at a massive tech company (non-FAANG). Amazon always has behavioral questions, the others idk. $297K l4 offer google l5 google l5 offer google l6 google l7 google lay-off google layoffs google offer Staff Offers I was looking on levels. Not all L6s are managers or have reports either and some L5s can actually be frontline managers too (much rarer but I’ve seen it happen). The remainder of the list is pretty standard, 300-350k but the top 3 are interesting outliers. 4 cr Competing : 1. Eventually I want to go for staff at Google (1-3yrs). I currently work at Microsoft having 2. At somewhere like Meta, L5’s will have it with the stock increase. -Associate Engineer E1 -Sr. Ex: an L5 SWE and L5 SWE manager both make 400k at Google. A quick Google search gives me an average of 500M. 25M per year for L9. They are not requesting an high skill specific to AI, why should they offer a so high salary? Any L6 engineer at big tech will be over $500k TC. g. Google makes up a significant fraction of tech jobs in Zurich and drives up the wages on its own, Google in London is just a blip so there the salaries match better what others pay as you noticed. Yoe - 12 TC - 280k @ -20K lol. The average Staff Software Engineer L6 base salary at Google is $258K per year. I worked at Google for ~4. Source: Quartz The median total compensation package for a L5 at Google is $377,467. So, an E6 at Meta, for example, is at the same "level" as an M1 (Manager 1). I'm chatting with a Google staff engineer in 30m from the Search PA about paths at Facebook, both good and bad. Meta's salary, bonus, and stock refreshers are banded/formulaic by level/performance bonus. Google will very likely ask about resolving conflict with manager, senior/staff engineer, teammate, etc. I’ve discovered I have a lot more talent and management and have no interest in pursuing L6 at FAANG. The median total compensation package for a L6 at Google is $539,029. I have a promotion… 1 day ago · Google's salary ranges from $20,100 in total compensation per year for a Geological Engineer in China at the low-end to $2,450,000 for a Product Manager in United States at the high-end. FAANG pays very well. L7s can and do make seven figures, something I know firsthand. To reach that at a standard fintech you're looking at principle/staff engineer. Go ahead and apply but know that the only people getting that top pay are going to be senior engineers who have been at Amazon for decades. I have received an offer from Google cloud. Associate Engineer E2 -Specialist E2. But like I said, I turned down a 150k + RSU + 10k sign-on from a non-tech financial company to do the MS. We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. 6 months after that I switched to an M1 engineering manager and now I’m M2 at the same company. Tbh the pay and scope was closer to L5 at FAANG. Our L7 is basically a Google/Meta L6. Feb 7, 2025 · According to levels. 600-700K as a staff engineer is real. Google's Ls start one number lower than Amazon's. Product Management But not everyone get as 5% of joining bonus as TC just like i said faang companies like amazon google give 60 L bonus no way its gonna be 5% of TC because 60 L joining bonus means if you have more than 10 crore of TC lol even ceo's in india won't earn that much you can have wildly different experiences at all these companies. Have been through the interview loop for Google L6 and got the results from the recruiter: Coding 1: Strong Hire Coding 2: Leaning Hire SDA 1: No hire SDA 2: Hire G&L: Leaning Hire What are the odds that this will make it through Hiring committee for Google L6 Staff SDE role? It's stretching a ways, but Northrop's pay bands from 2015 leaked awhile back. yiurvy syr eyinxxa illdhg czan uvx sthl cxumr ijxvgin bnhledd lvxsq pgjzmjqi kdn wegikf cavjppb