Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can you talk more about your experience, or what sort of projects you worked on in previous roles to become a "lead automation engineer"?
Anything in particular? I touched on this a bit in the description. In short, I would say it has felt like a straight forward progression after performing well yet being aggressive with pay negotiations. The latter becomes easier when you realize it’s not money out of your managers pocket, just a spigot guarded by HR.
Hah, I like this characterization. I've often walked away from lowball offers only to be contacted by hiring managers with much better offers. I can't say I agree with a company's policy of trying to bring in engineers at the lowest rate possible. I'm still somewhat Mid-Level though, when I do get to play a more important part in hiring decisions, I will most certainly try to change these shitty policies.
At first I kinda felt that I deserved the higher comp. because of how firm I would be in asking for what I wanted, but lately I've come to realize that most engineers don't really want to negotiate hard but they do need a good compensation to be happy (lets not fool ourselves here).