[YorkianTones]

Are staff engineers needed? The role seems like a relatively new invention. Senior and midlevel IC engineers do the heavy lifting, principals set strategy and define architecture, EMs manage engineers, PMs manage product. I'm not clear on what the role of the staff engineer is and why it's needed.

[aaronblohowiak]

>principals set strategy and define architecture,

staff is sometimes used on road to principal, in some firms there are no principals but just staff, etc.

i think _generally_ the industry is doing swe, sr swe, staff, sr staff, principal

sometimes there is no sr staff, sometimes there is no staff and just principal, sr principal...

[bsenftner]

In VFX and animation production there is a "firefighter" position similar to the Staff Engineer: a senior level developer unassigned to a specific project, able to float as needed and provide support and solutions for other projects that need spot senior level support. At some studios this role goes to sr. and lead developers whose projects are canceled/halted until they can be reassigned. At others, it's like a mini-sabbatical for sr level technical staff that would otherwise leave, but the company does not want them to leave.

[ZephyrBlu]

A big function of Staff engineers is working across teams. Cross-team communication and alignment is difficult.