I'm a 'Principal Software Engineer' - to the extent that inter-org comparisons work, this is what a lot of places call 'Staff'. I'm in my late 30s and I work in

I'm a 'Principal Software Engineer' - to the extent that inter-org comparisons work, this is what a lot of places call 'Staff'. I'm in my late 30s and I work in the UK for the BBC. I'm embedded in a product team. I think lack of definition, or the perspective that an advertised role is just senior+ software engineer, is probably fairly normal. Unsurprisingly employers do a bad job of describing something that ideally ought to be flexible and self-directed. Our ads would probably look a bit like this too, but the jobs themselves are varied. The question should be whether you can actually do what you see fit, in role. You will need to explore each specific opportunity to try and fathom this. I think you could do with some of that flexibility yourself though. You have quite a specific ask (who you would report to etc) and I don't think all of it is material to enjoyment. Given that your other options are doing something that is specifically *not* what you describe, like line management or product, I think you should ask yourself what you're willing to compromise on here in order to be happy. I know you're talking about your ideals but it also seems to me to be a rigid (and may I say somewhat cynical) idea of what value you might bring or be able to bring. Try thinking about it as more responsive to a problem space with an element of self-development. I feel like at present, if you talked about it on these terms with an employer, you're presenting them with a set of assertions and constraints - 'I want to do architecture whether you like it or not, I will not do mentoring'. My role has presented me with new aspects which I didn't know I liked, and it's helped me develop as a leader and particularly an empathetic leader. My job is mostly about figuring out how I can provide the most value right now, and then doing that, and it's constantly morphing. When I started, I decided the best use of my time was firefighting and putting a neglected house in order with some big technical rework pieces. Now we have a junior-heavy team and until we have a critical mass of seniority, it's mostly skilling them up. There's lots of strategy and a little architecture too but there's only so many hours in the day. I like my job a great deal. I keep doing this line of work because I like engineering, problem solving by whatever means, improving the engineering culture, and helping people. You could have this too if that's what you want - don't let your own barriers and conditions prevent it. Can't help you with compensation though - I definitely don't make a huge amount of money. Doesn't really bother me.