Having been both the "Senior Software Developer" and in management, it's hard to avoid HR policies that take tenure and seniority into account. Like it or not, positions need to be bucketed to drive things like pay grade, salary, etc.
That said, whenever possible I drive title based on how productive one makes other people. I don't expect a Junior developer to make the team more effective. I do expect seniors, principals, chiefs, etc to do so. If you are a Principal or Chief, you better be able to make your whole team much more productive.
It isn't about the coding skill of that person. It's about how the decisions they make affect the rest of the team. In the end, no one person, no matter how good can do it all. Making other people more effective is the hard part that I wish more devs focused on.
That said, whenever possible I drive title based on how productive one makes other people. I don't expect a Junior developer to make the team more effective. I do expect seniors, principals, chiefs, etc to do so. If you are a Principal or Chief, you better be able to make your whole team much more productive.
It isn't about the coding skill of that person. It's about how the decisions they make affect the rest of the team. In the end, no one person, no matter how good can do it all. Making other people more effective is the hard part that I wish more devs focused on.