At most garden variety BigCorps that I'm aware of, these days staff engineer is basically anyone with a decent amount of experience. A step above senior, that'

At most garden variety BigCorps that I'm aware of, these days staff engineer is basically anyone with a decent amount of experience. A step above senior, that's about it. Principal is next, and actually does have a bit more meaning, but still not _that_ special. Based on everything I've read, Google L9 easily trumps both of those positions and by a fairly large margin.