Modeled career paths · Site reliability

Where does a Staff SRE go next?

What employers are asking a Staff SRE for, what they pay, and where people go next. From live postings and Startline’s modeled career map: what the ads say, never estimated.

Typical advancement
SRE Team Lead+34% typical comp change · ~3.0y typical
75% of modeled moves out of Staff SRE go here
progression84% of modeled exits move upward from there
Director of Reliability+92% typical comp change · ~3.0y typical
25% of modeled moves out of Staff SRE go here
executive stepno modeled onward moves above the evidence floor
Specialist path
Director of IT-6% typical comp change · ~7.0y typical
reachable via SRE Team Lead. 3% joint modeled share
progression64% of modeled exits move upward from there
Director of PMO-10% typical comp change · ~7.0y typical
reachable via SRE Team Lead. 3% joint modeled share
progression0% of modeled exits move upward from there
Higher-growth opportunity
Principal Cloud Architect+34% typical comp change · ~7.0y typical
reachable via SRE Team Lead. 3% joint modeled share
progression84% of modeled exits move upward from there
Data Engineering Lead+29% typical comp change · ~7.0y typical
reachable via SRE Team Lead. 3% joint modeled share
progression0% of modeled exits move upward from there

What this page cannot know is which of these fit you. That is what the free list is for.