Principal Cybersecurity Engineer Jobs

Principal Cybersecurity Engineer jobs are open across defense, financial services, healthcare, and enterprise technology, from senior individual contributor to staff and principal levels, with specializations in cloud security, threat architecture, and identity and access management. Find a role that fits from the openings below and apply directly.

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Overview

Open roles62
Top stateVirginia
Top employerNorthrop Grumman
Top cityReston, VA
Work type61% On-site
Top industryTechnology

Showing 5 of 62+ Principal Cybersecurity Engineer jobs

Workday
Principal Cybersecurity Engineer
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Workday
Added 4d ago
Principal Cybersecurity Engineer
Workday
Reston, Virginia
AI (Artificial Intelligence)
Product Management
Software Engineering
Solutions Engineering & Architecture
$167k - $300k/yr
Bachelor's degree
10,000+

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Northrop Grumman
Sr. Principal Cybersecurity Engineer Lead
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Northrop Grumman
Added 4d ago
Sr. Principal Cybersecurity Engineer Lead
Northrop Grumman
Chantilly, Virginia
Business Strategy
Product Management
Project & Program Management
Project Management
$156k - $235k/yr
Master's degree in cybersecurity
10,000+

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The Home Depot
Cybersecurity Principal | AI Security and Cyber Fraud Analytics (Remote)
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The Home Depot
Added 4d ago
Cybersecurity Principal | AI Security and Cyber Fraud Analytics (Remote)
The Home Depot
Atlanta, Georgia
Business Operations
Project Management
Quality Assurance & Testing (QA Testing)
Quality Control
$170k - $240k/yr
Remote (US)
Bachelor's degree
10,000+

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General Dynamics Information Technology
Cybersecurity Engineer Principal
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General Dynamics Information Technology
Added 5d ago
Cybersecurity Engineer Principal
General Dynamics Information Technology
Bossier City, Louisiana
Engineering (Non-Software)
Mechanical Engineering
Product Management
$146k - $198k/yr
Hybrid
Bachelor of Science
10,000+

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AT&T
Principal Cybersecurity Engineer – Firewall Platforms: Firewall Policy with Operational Artificial Intelligence (AI)
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AT&T
Added 1w ago
Principal Cybersecurity Engineer – Firewall Platforms: Firewall Policy with Operational Artificial Intelligence (AI)
AT&T
Middletown, New Jersey
Cybersecurity
IT Support
Network Engineering
$155k - $261k/yr
Bachelor of Science
10,000+

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Principal Cybersecurity Engineer Job Market

Who's Hiring

  • N
    Northrop Grumman13
  • AT&T
    AT&T3
  • C
    Collins Aerospace3
  • General Dynamics Information Technology
    General Dynamics Information Technology3
  • GFT
    GFT2

Top Industries Hiring

  • Technology & Software
  • Consulting & Professional Services
  • Automotive
  • Medical Devices
  • Agriculture & Farming

What Employers Look For

The qualifications that appear most often in principal cybersecurity engineer jobs.

  • Ten or more years of progressive cybersecurity experience with at least three in a senior or lead role
  • Active CISSP, CISM, or equivalent enterprise security certification
  • Demonstrated experience designing zero-trust or defense-in-depth security architectures at scale
  • Proficiency with cloud security controls across AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud environments
  • Experience leading security program strategy, roadmap development, and cross-functional stakeholder communication
  • Familiarity with compliance frameworks including NIST CSF, SOC 2, ISO 27001, or FedRAMP

Tips for Your Principal Cybersecurity Engineer Job Search

Tailor your resume to architecture depth

Principal-level postings screen for evidence of system-wide security design, not just implementation. Lead each bullet with the architecture decision you owned, the threat model it addressed, and the outcome, not just the tools you used.

List certifications in priority order

CISSP, CISM, and cloud-provider security specializations carry different weight depending on the employer's stack. Put the certification that matches the posting's environment first on your credentials line so screeners see the right signal immediately.

Apply early to roles that fit

Migrate Mate lists principal cybersecurity engineer openings from across the United States in one place, so you can find roles that match and apply directly to each listing.

Target postings that name your threat domain

Search for your specific specialty, whether that's OT security, zero-trust implementation, or red-team program leadership, not just the title. Postings that name your domain get far fewer competing applicants than generic principal engineer searches.

Prepare a technical design narrative

Principal interviews almost always include a whiteboard or async architecture exercise. Walk through one past security architecture you designed end-to-end, including the constraints you faced and the tradeoffs you made, so you can adapt it to any scenario they present.

Negotiate scope before you negotiate pay

At the principal level, the reporting structure, program ownership, and whether you have hiring authority shape the role's actual value. Clarify those before you get to compensation, because a constrained scope with a high title is a lateral move in practice.

Principal Cybersecurity Engineer Jobs: Frequently Asked Questions

Which companies are hiring the most principal cybersecurity engineers?

The companies hiring the most principal cybersecurity engineers right now include Northrop Grumman, AT&T, and Collins Aerospace, with the largest share of openings in Virginia, California, and Utah, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of August 2026. Defense contractors, large financial institutions, and cloud-native technology companies consistently post the highest volume of principal-level security roles.

How many principal cybersecurity engineer jobs are remote?

About 39% of principal cybersecurity engineer openings are fully remote or hybrid as of August 2026, making it one of the more flexible senior engineering roles. Threat architecture, cloud security, and governance-focused positions tend to offer the most remote flexibility, while roles tied to classified environments or on-premises infrastructure typically require on-site presence.

How do you become a principal cybersecurity engineer?

Becoming a principal cybersecurity engineer typically requires progressing from a security analyst or engineer role through senior and lead positions while building ownership of increasingly complex architecture decisions. Earning enterprise-recognized certifications, leading cross-functional security initiatives, and demonstrating program-level impact rather than task execution are the steps that distinguish principal candidates from senior ones.

Can you get a principal cybersecurity engineer job without deep leadership experience?

It's difficult, because most principal postings treat program ownership and cross-team influence as baseline expectations rather than growth opportunities. The most realistic path without a formal leadership title is to document the security architecture decisions you drove independently, the business risk you quantified, and the teams whose roadmaps you shaped, then apply to companies where the principal role is defined as a technical track rather than a people-management step.

What does the principal cybersecurity engineer interview process look like?

The process typically runs across multiple rounds, starting with a recruiter screen focused on scope and seniority, followed by a technical panel covering threat modeling, architecture tradeoffs, and your approach to security program design. Most employers at this level also include a cross-functional interview with product, engineering, or legal stakeholders to assess how you communicate risk and drive alignment outside the security team.

Where can I find and apply to principal cybersecurity engineer jobs?

You can find and apply to principal cybersecurity engineer jobs on Migrate Mate, which lists current openings from across the United States. Find roles that match your background and apply directly to each listing from the results on this page.

See All 62 Principal Cybersecurity Engineer Jobs

Find roles that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.

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