I’m currently a Staff Systems Engineer (was promoted from Senior last year) and I’m looking at a position with the title “Systems Engineer”, which had significantly higher compensation.
Would going for this job be a bad move? Would it make it higher to jump to a Principal Systems Engineering role harder later on?
I think title matters much less than actual tenure and experience. Some places only have one systems engineer, so there’s no need for a senior in the title in that case.
Good luck on your hunt! I’m a syseng too, been poking the job market every now and then to see what it’s like. Might be time for a change once things settle down.