In recent weeks, I've spoken with a number of people about developers.  About hiring them, firing them, training them, promoting them, and generally everything revolving around getting or having good people for a team.  And one of the odd things that struck me is that:

Every organization defines "Senior Developer" completely different and sometimes contradictory ways.

I don't mean little things like one organization wants a senior have have 6+ years versus another wanting 8+ years.  I mean real philosophical differences in roles, responsibilities, background, and everything else.  So in the interest of disclosure, here are my thoughts on what makes a Senior Developer: