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Engineering Leadership salary in San Diego

Employer-stated pay · updated Oct 19, 2026

Engineering Leadership pay in San Diego is measured from 22 postings where the employer stated pay. The best-evidenced figure is senior, where 17 postings put the middle half between $180,000 and $224,700, with a median of $200,000.

Against the 46 other measured markets for engineering leadership at senior, this sits below 25 of them; Foster City leads at $298,500.

1 of these ranges rests on fewer than 10 postings, so read it as a strong hint rather than a benchmark; the sample column shows exactly what backs each number.

40 engineering leadership roles are open in San Diego right now, 40 listing pay.

LevelMarket rangeMedianSample
Mid $153,500 – $166,000 $160,000 5hint
Senior $180,000 – $224,700 $200,000 17

Entry is junior titles. Mid is mid-level and manager titles. Senior is senior titles. Lead is director, VP and above. Rows marked hint rest on fewer than 10 postings: read them as a hint, not a benchmark.

Ranges span the 25th to 75th percentile of employer-stated base pay for the level. Median is the 50th percentile. Sample is the number of postings measured.

Open engineering leadership roles in San Diego · 40 with stated pay

this job's paywhere most pay sits here, $150,000–$315,000scale $90,000–$450,000

Principal Engineer (Nondestructive Testing) Cat (SolarTurbines) · San Diego $120,600–$180,900 5d ago Staff Engineer, Aircraft Trajectory Modeling (R5787) Shield AI · San Diego $200,000–$300,000 4w ago Staff Engineer, M&P (R6072) Shield AI · Seattle $160,000–$240,000 4w ago Staff Software Engineer ServiceNow · San Diego $149,800–$262,200 4w ago Staff Engineer, Integration (R6009) Shield AI · Washington $144,400–$216,600 4w ago Senior Principal Software Engineer Monarch Quantum · San Diego $195,000–$235,000 4w ago Staff Engineer, Platform (R6019) Shield AI · San Diego $160,000–$290,000 4w ago Sr. Software Architect Leidos · San Diego $131,300–$237,350 5w ago Principal Engineer, Test Engineering Semtech · San Diego $137,000–$196,000 6w ago Staff Engineer, Aircraft Configuration Design (R5830) Shield AI · San Diego $144,000–$210,000 6w ago Head of Systems Engineering Cellanome · San Diego $230,000–$270,000 7w ago Senior Staff Engineer, System Architect (R5843) Shield AI · San Diego $170,000–$310,000 7w ago Senior Staff Engineer, Systems Integration (R5415) Shield AI · San Diego $212,000–$318,000 7w ago Senior Staff Engineer, Autonomy Capabilities – Maritime (R5363) Shield AI · Washington $220,800–$331,200 8w ago Staff Engineer, Autonomy Capabilities – Maritime (R5325) Shield AI · Washington $220,800–$331,200 8w ago Staff Engineer, Data Platform (R5659) Shield AI · San Diego $150,000–$230,000 8w ago Software Engineering Manager Innoflight · San Diego $155,000–$190,000 2mo ago Aircraft Subsystems Engineering Lead Natilus · San Diego $170,000–$195,000 2mo ago Staff Software Engineer Illumina · San Diego $155,600–$233,400 2mo ago Senior Staff Software Engineer ServiceNow · Remote · US $171,900–$300,800 2mo ago Principal Engineer-Communication Systems Microchip · Irvine $75,000–$232,000 2mo ago Senior Staff Engineer, Autonomy Capabilities – Space (R5360) Shield AI · Washington $220,800–$331,200 2mo ago Staff Software Engineer, Autonomy Capabilities – Space (R5368) Shield AI · Boston $187,531–$281,297 2mo ago Software Integration & Test Engineering Manager Innoflight · San Diego $140,000–$180,000 2mo ago Software Development Manager veracyte · Remote · US $147,000–$160,000 3mo ago Staff Engineer, Core Platform Integration (R5411) Shield AI · San Diego $190,000–$290,000 3mo ago Senior Staff Software Engineer, Autonomous Pilot Integration – Emerging Domains (R5398) Shield AI · Washington $233,760–$350,640 3mo ago Senior Staff Software Engineer, Autonomous Pilot Integration – Weapons (R5398) Shield AI · Washington $233,760–$350,640 3mo ago Senior Staff Software Engineer, Autonomous Pilot Integration – Expeditionary (R5193) Shield AI · Washington $233,760–$350,640 3mo ago Staff Software Engineer, Autonomous Pilot Integration – Emerging Domains (R5401) Shield AI · Washington $195,200–$292,800 3mo ago Staff Software Engineer, Autonomous Pilot Integration – Expeditionary (R5208) Shield AI · Washington $195,200–$292,800 3mo ago Staff Engineer, Data Analysis (R5290) Shield AI · Dallas $150,000–$220,000 3mo ago Senior Staff Software Engineer, Autonomous Pilot Integration (R5193) Shield AI · Washington $233,760–$350,640 4mo ago Staff Software Engineer, Autonomous Pilot Integration (R5208) Shield AI · Washington $195,200–$292,800 4mo ago Staff Software Engineer, Autonomy Behaviors (R4588) Shield AI · Boston $195,200–$292,800 5mo ago Staff Engineer, Autonomy Software Integration (R4483) Shield AI · San Diego $157,000–$235,800 8mo ago Senior/Staff Software Engineer - Ride and Fleet Services Zoox · Foster City $230,000–$315,000 9mo ago Senior Staff Engineer, Autonomy Behaviors (R5363) Shield AI · Washington $233,760–$350,640 1y ago Senior Staff Engineer, Software - Autonomous Aircraft Integration (R4983) Shield AI · Washington $220,800–$331,200 1y ago Staff Engineer, Software - Autonomous Aircraft Integration (R4983) Shield AI · Washington $182,720–$274,080 1y ago
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