Engineering ▸
tl;dr
Roles up to and including Senior, ladders are constructed around becoming the best at what one does that one might personally be.
At Staff level, the career expands to help others be successful with what you do and know, and scale yourself. Responsibilities increase to include more architectural solutioning as well as team and project management.
At Principal and beyond, you are trying to help others be the best that they can be, removing yourself and meeting others where they are. Responsibilities increase to include more business need anticipation, roadmap management and cross-team architectural suggestions.