Principal Engineer Jobs in San Francisco, CA
Principal Engineer jobs in San Francisco are concentrated in SoMa, the Financial District, and Mission Bay, with strong demand across enterprise software, AI infrastructure, fintech, and biotech. Employers actively hiring include Atlassian, Salesforce, and Okta. See the openings below and apply to the ones that match your experience.
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About the Role
Join the robotics team at a defense technology company developing autonomous systems to detect and counter drone threats. This is a senior, hands-on individual contributor role focused on production C++ running on physical robotic hardware.
What You'll Do
Write and own critical production C++ across the robotics software stack.
Manage timing, threading, latency, and safety contracts across perception, tracking, control, and autonomy.
Move software from prototype to reliable field use through release processes, packaging, deployment, CI/CD, quality assurance, and hardware-in-the-loop testing.
Mentor and support the growth of the robotics team while continuing to code hands-on.
Investigate and resolve issues that emerge on real hardware, including during field testing.
What We're Looking For
10 or more years of hands-on robotics software engineering experience and a record of shipping robotic systems.
Recent experience writing production C++ for physical systems, including personally implementing tracking, calibration, and sensor fusion.
Experience taking robotics software from prototype to repeatable release for field, operator, fleet, or customer use.
Broad experience across sensors, perception, tracking, control, middleware, and deployment, including ownership of timing and latency architecture across a system.
Experience with robotics CI/CD, quality assurance, hardware-in-the-loop testing, and formal release and deployment processes.
Experience mentoring or growing a team while remaining a hands-on individual contributor.
ROS or ROS 2, cameras, IMUs, encoders, gimbal systems, and defense, aerospace, or safety-critical software experience are useful.
Must be a U.S. person due to export control requirements.
Compensation & Benefits
Base salary: $235,000 to $305,000 annually. Visa sponsorship is not available.
Location
On-site in San Francisco, California, five days per week, with field test days included.
Compensation Range: $235K - $305K
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Find Principal Engineer JobsPrincipal Engineer Job Market in San Francisco
Who's Hiring
- Atlassian121
- Salesforce106
- Okta45
- CLERA30C
- OpenAI30
Top Industries Hiring
- Technology & Software
Principal Engineer Jobs in San Francisco: Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get a principal engineer job in San Francisco?
Target San Francisco's densest hiring sectors: enterprise cloud platforms, AI and machine learning infrastructure, fintech, and biotech in Mission Bay. Roles concentrate with late-stage startups and major tech employers in SoMa and the Financial District. Candidates who demonstrate system design ownership at scale, cross-functional technical leadership, and familiarity with distributed systems have a clear edge in this market over generalist applicants.
Which companies hire principal engineers in San Francisco?
San Francisco principal engineer roles are posted by Atlassian, Salesforce, and Okta and others right now, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of November 2026. The market includes a mix of publicly traded tech companies, well-funded growth-stage startups, and financial services firms with large engineering organizations headquartered in the city.
Are there remote principal engineer jobs in San Francisco?
Yes, though availability varies: principal engineers who focus on architecture, platform strategy, or developer tooling tend to have the most remote flexibility, while those embedded in hardware, infrastructure operations, or lab-adjacent roles are more likely to be on-site. About 84% of principal engineer openings tied to San Francisco are remote or hybrid as of November 2026. AI and cloud-focused roles listed by San Francisco employers skew most heavily toward hybrid arrangements.
How can I get a principal engineer job in San Francisco with little or no experience?
The most realistic path is moving into a senior engineer role at a San Francisco startup or mid-size tech company, where scope expands quickly and principal-level responsibilities are often accessible without a formal title change first. Growth-stage companies in SoMa and Mission Bay frequently promote from within. Building a visible portfolio through open-source contributions, technical writing, or conference talks at local meetups strengthens your candidacy meaningfully in this market.
Which industries hire the most principal engineers in San Francisco?
Most principal engineer openings in San Francisco sit in Technology & Software, per current listings on Migrate Mate as of November 2026. San Francisco's role as a hub for venture-backed technology companies, financial services innovation, and life sciences research drives sustained demand for senior technical leadership across all three sectors.
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