Principal Engineer Jobs

Principal Engineer jobs are open across technology, fintech, healthtech, defense, and enterprise software, from senior engineer to staff and distinguished-level roles, with specializations in platform engineering, distributed systems, and infrastructure architecture. Find a role that fits from the openings below and apply directly.

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Overview

Open roles3,541+
Top stateCalifornia
Top employerCVS Health
Top citySanta Clara, CA
Work type70% On-site
Top industryTechnology

Showing 5 of 3,541+ Principal Engineer jobs

Meijer
Principal Engineer
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Meijer
New 5h ago
Principal Engineer
Meijer
Frankfort, Kentucky
Software Engineering
Data Science & Analytics
Technical Product & Program Management
$121k - $191k/yr
Hybrid
None
10,000+

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Micron Technology
Principal Engineer
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Micron Technology
New 8h ago
Principal Engineer
Micron Technology
Boise, Idaho
Specialized Engineering
Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering
Engineering (Non-Software)
Manufacturing Engineering
On-Site
Bachelor's
10,000+

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Micron Technology
Principal Engineer Photolithography DRAM Process Development
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Micron Technology
New 20h ago
Principal Engineer Photolithography DRAM Process Development
Micron Technology
Boise, Idaho
Specialized Engineering
Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering
Engineering (Non-Software)
Manufacturing Engineering
On-Site
Bachelor's
10,000+

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Qualcomm
Director/Principal Engineer
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Qualcomm
New 20h ago
Director/Principal Engineer
Qualcomm
San Diego, California
Software Engineering
Project & Program Management
Technical Product & Program Management
Project Management
Technical Program Management
$193k - $289k/yr
On-Site
Bachelor's
10,000+

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Advance Auto Parts
Principal Engineer
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Advance Auto Parts
Added 1d ago
Principal Engineer
Advance Auto Parts
Raleigh, North Carolina
Software Engineering
Cloud & DevOps
Data Engineering
Technical Product & Program Management
Cloud Engineering
Hybrid
None
10,000+

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Principal Engineer Job Market

A snapshot from current openings nationwide, updated as new roles post.

Who's Hiring

  • CVS Health
    CVS Health158
  • Palo Alto Networks
    Palo Alto Networks119
  • Oracle
    Oracle73
  • Arcadis
    Arcadis64
  • NVIDIA
    NVIDIA63

Top Industries Hiring

  • Technology & Software1,232
  • Electronics & Hardware553
  • Consulting & Professional Services513
  • Healthcare & Medical Services217
  • Manufacturing179

What Employers Look For

The qualifications that appear most often in principal engineer jobs.

  • 10 or more years of software engineering experience with 3 or more years in a senior technical leadership role
  • Deep expertise in distributed systems, microservices architecture, or large-scale platform design
  • Proficiency in at least one primary language such as Java, Python, Go, or C++ at production scale
  • Experience defining technical roadmaps, engineering standards, and cross-team architectural direction
  • Strong background in cloud infrastructure on AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud including networking and reliability patterns
  • Bachelor's or master's degree in computer science, software engineering, or a closely related field

Tips for Your Principal Engineer Job Search

Reframe your resume around influence

Principal engineer resumes stall when they read like senior engineer resumes. Replace task-based bullet points with outcomes you drove at org scale: architecture decisions adopted company-wide, engineering standards you authored, or systems that unblocked multiple teams.

Apply early to roles that fit

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

Target companies at the right growth stage

Principal engineer roles are most clearly defined at companies large enough to have distinct staff and senior staff tiers. Series B and later startups, and enterprises mid-migration, hire most actively because architectural debt is acute and technical leadership is underdeveloped.

Prepare a system design narrative in advance

Most principal-level loops include at least one deep system design session. Walk in with two or three real examples you can detail end to end, covering the tradeoffs you rejected and why. Generic designs drawn from textbooks fail at this level.

Negotiate scope before negotiating compensation

At the principal level, the title can mean staff engineer, principal engineer, or distinguished engineer depending on the company ladder. Before discussing pay, clarify reporting structure, decision authority, and whether the role is individual contributor or carries direct reports.

Follow up with a written technical take

After a final-round system design interview, send a brief follow-up note that refines one tradeoff you discussed or flags a constraint you would handle differently. It signals the depth of thinking hiring managers expect from someone at this level.

Principal Engineer Jobs: Frequently Asked Questions

Which companies are hiring the most principal engineers?

The companies hiring the most principal engineers right now include CVS Health, Palo Alto Networks, and Oracle, with the largest share of openings in California, Texas, and Massachusetts, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of June 2026. Demand is consistently highest at large technology companies, defense contractors, and enterprise software firms scaling platform and infrastructure teams.

How many principal engineer jobs are remote?

About 30% of principal engineer openings are fully remote or hybrid as of June 2026, making it one of the more remote-accessible senior technical roles. Platform engineering, distributed systems, and cloud architecture positions tend to offer the most location flexibility, while roles tied to hardware, embedded systems, or on-site lab environments are more likely to require in-person presence.

How do you become a principal engineer?

Becoming a principal engineer typically requires moving from senior engineer to a role where you own technical direction beyond your immediate team. The path involves leading cross-functional architecture decisions, mentoring multiple engineers, building a reputation for engineering judgment that other teams rely on, and demonstrating that your technical choices have measurable long-term impact on product reliability, scalability, or developer productivity.

Can you get hired as a principal engineer without prior principal-level experience?

Yes, candidates are hired at the principal level from strong senior engineer backgrounds when they can show scope that already matches the role. If you have owned architecture decisions that affected multiple teams, authored engineering standards adopted across an organization, or led a platform migration end to end, those contributions often carry more weight than holding a prior principal title at a smaller company.

What does the principal engineer interview process look like?

The principal engineer interview process typically runs four to six rounds and includes a recruiter screen, a hiring manager conversation focused on scope and leadership philosophy, one or two deep system design sessions, a behavioral or executive interview assessing cross-functional influence, and sometimes a technical presentation or architecture review. Loops at this level spend more time on judgment, tradeoffs, and organizational impact than on algorithmic coding problems.

Where can I find and apply to principal engineer jobs?

You can find and apply to principal engineer jobs on Migrate Mate, which lists current openings from across the United States. Search the available roles, find the ones that match your background and preferred location or remote setup, and apply directly to each listing.

See All 3,541+ Principal Engineer Jobs

Jump back to the full list of openings and apply to any principal engineer role that fits.

Find Principal Engineer Jobs