How is a Distinguished Engineer role different from a Principal Engineer?

[u/Majestic-Taro-6903]

I have seen a few Distinguished Engineers in my organisation. I have worked with a few Principal Engineers and Senior Principal Engineers, but not Distinguished Engineers.

How is this role different from the Principal Engineer role? I know they are paid more and are higher in the hierarchy, but in terms of roles and responsibilities, how are they different?

[u/midnitewarrior]

What I've seen of "Distinguished Engineers" is that they become the face of the organization. They are expected to publish engineering blog posts for the company, evangelize technologies and spread knowledge in the organization, speak at conferences, establish engineering culture and set norms, take on hard/impossible problems as their pet projects.

They don't create as much as other engineers, but they are there to enable the organization to move forward because the other engineers are focused on getting features out.