Not in my experience. I think a key thing is that a principal engineer is technical glue. You run around talking people getting insight on what is happening on

Not in my experience. I think a key thing is that a principal engineer is technical glue. You run around talking people getting insight on what is happening on the front-line, and then you nudge things in directions such that the game wins. Does this meaning providing tactical insight for the project? yes. Does this mean questioning priorities and aligning priorities? yes. Does this mean that making sure the department is sustainable on hiring objectives? yes. You could say that the role is being a smart technical person that is responsible at the level of "almost stake holder". A key thing here is that a principal engineer should also have significant stock. At a big company, this should be in the seven figures.