This sounds like every big company ever, more or less. As a principal engineer your role is more political than technical. The title is prestigious but if you w

This sounds like every big company ever, more or less. As a principal engineer your role is more political than technical. The title is prestigious but if you want to be happy, there's nothing wrong with topping out as a senior engineer with no direct reports or broad architectural responsibility. The pay at that level is already (for me) more than my parents ever made on two incomes, plus equity. And i don't have to worry about the politics and the infighting. Just build things until the weekend