Principal Engineer Jobs in Maryland
Principal Engineer jobs in Maryland are concentrated in the Baltimore-Washington corridor, Annapolis, and the suburban technology hubs of Montgomery and Howard Counties, where defense, cybersecurity, and systems engineering anchor demand at the senior and staff levels. Employers such as Northrop Grumman, Leidos, and Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory maintain a lasting presence and consistently recruit principal engineers across software, systems, and hardware disciplines. The market is among the most active in the Mid-Atlantic, with openings at every seniority tier from recently promoted senior engineer to distinguished principal. See the openings below and apply to the ones that match your experience.
Find Principal Engineer JobsOverview
Showing 4 of 170+ Principal Engineer jobs
ACTIVE SECURITY CLEARANCE AT THE TS/SCI POLYGRAPH LEVEL IS REQUIRED
The Software Engineer will join an agile engineering team responsible for designing, deploying, and maintaining high-throughput services for a core mission analytic platform. In this role, you will modernize and sustain critical application codebases, automate containerized packaging and orchestration pipelines, and implement infrastructure as code. Beyond individual technical contributions, you will serve as a technical resource across the team, providing hands-on developer support, conducting peer reviews, and unblocking teammates to maintain mission momentum.
The annual base salary range for this role is $209,000-$247,000 (USD) , which does not include discretionary bonus compensation or our comprehensive benefits package. Actual compensation offered to the successful candidate may vary from posted hiring range based upon geographic location, work experience, education, and/or skill level, among other things.
,
Required Skills
Core Backend Engineering: Proven experience developing, debugging, maintaining, and updating enterprise application code in Java (or C++/Go) across modern development frameworks.Containerization & Packaging: Demonstrated hands-on experience building, optimizing, and securing OCI-compliant container images using Docker.
Container Orchestration & Deployment: Direct experience configuring and deploying applications to Kubernetes clusters, including creating and managing Helm charts.
Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Practical proficiency in automating cloud or on-premise infrastructure provisioning using Terraform.
Collaborative Developer Support & Mentorship: Strong track record of providing direct technical support to engineering teammates, conducting code reviews, and resolving integration roadblocks in an agile environment.
Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Data Science, Computer Science, Computational Linguistics, Mathematics, or a related technical discipline, PLUS 14+ years of professional experience in data science, NLP, or software engineering OR High School Diploma / GED, PLUS 18+ years of specialized technical experience in lieu of a degree.
,
Desired Skills
Java Ecosystem Modernization: Experience refactoring legacy Java applications to modern LTS versions (e.g., Java 17/21) and microservice frameworks (e.g., Spring Boot, Quarkus).
CI/CD Pipeline Automation: Practical experience configuring continuous integration and automated deployment pipelines using platforms such as GitLab CI, Jenkins, or ArgoCD.
Cluster & Workload Monitoring: Familiarity with cluster observability and logging stacks such as Prometheus, Grafana, OpenSearch, or Fluentbit.
Mission Systems Security & Hardening: Experience applying container hardening standards (e.g., distroless base images, CVE scanning via Trivy) and aligning with mission security guidelines (e.g., DISA STIGs).
Distributed Data & Analytics Platforms: Familiarity with message brokers or distributed data engines (e.g., Apache Kafka, Apache Spark, or Elasticsearch) within cloud-native analytic architectures.
,
About Nyla Technology Solutions
Nyla Technology Solutions delivers exceptional Artificial Intelligence (AI), Data Science, and Software Engineering services for the U.S. Government. Nyla embraces a forward-thinking and bold approach at every turn, earning us a solid reputation of technical trendsetters within the industry. We have a passion for developing solutions that have a quick and immediate impact on mission. Headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, our customers love how we tackle their most challenging problems and get things done.
If you have the unique experience and expertise we are seeking, along with the desire and determination to invest your time and energy as a part of Nyla’s team,
Taking Care of All of You
Nyla provides a top-of-market compensation and benefits package. And through our unique Nyla FLEX program, we custom tailor these benefits to best fit your lifestyle.
The Nyla FLEX benefit program is designed to offer you flexibility in the 3 biggest areas of your life: your pay, your leave, and your schedule.
PAY - Nyla starts with 4 weeks of Annual Leave plus 11 holidays and an additional day of Annual Leave for each year you’re at the company. You have the flexibility to cash out your annual leave hours, opt out of other Nyla benefits, and/or arrange for additional hours on contract* (over 40 hrs/week). There’s even an option to earn 1.3 times your hourly rate once you work over 1880 hours on contract!
LEAVE - Want to spend more time with the family? Want more time to travel the world? You can BUY additional annual leave for a total of 6 weeks of annual leave. That’s up to 240 hours of leave plus 11 holidays! That’s not even including paid anniversary leave!
SCHEDULE - Does the traditional 40-hour workweek no longer fit your lifestyle? With Nyla FLEX, you have the freedom to scale down to 30-32 hours while still enjoying the top-notch Nyla benefits you know and love. It's flexibility that works for you without compromising the perks!
WHAT ABOUT OTHER BENEFITS? Nyla’s health care (medical, dental, and vision) is 100% covered by the company. We provide 10% 401k matching - with full vesting day 1! Our Professional Development offers $5,000 per year to be used towards fees, tuition, or time off for your continued growth. We even have a student loan repayment program and we provide 8 hours of volunteering annually so you can support your community, making your world a better place.
To learn more about Nyla's culture and our exceptional benefit packages click here.
Nyla is an equal opportunity employer.
ACTIVE SECURITY CLEARANCE AT THE TS/SCI POLYGRAPH LEVEL IS REQUIRED
The Software Engineer will join an agile engineering team responsible for designing, deploying, and maintaining high-throughput services for a core mission analytic platform. In this role, you will modernize and sustain critical application codebases, automate containerized packaging and orchestration pipelines, and implement infrastructure as code. Beyond individual technical contributions, you will serve as a technical resource across the team, providing hands-on developer support, conducting peer reviews, and unblocking teammates to maintain mission momentum.
The annual base salary range for this role is $209,000-$247,000 (USD) , which does not include discretionary bonus compensation or our comprehensive benefits package. Actual compensation offered to the successful candidate may vary from posted hiring range based upon geographic location, work experience, education, and/or skill level, among other things.
,
Required Skills
Core Backend Engineering: Proven experience developing, debugging, maintaining, and updating enterprise application code in Java (or C++/Go) across modern development frameworks.Containerization & Packaging: Demonstrated hands-on experience building, optimizing, and securing OCI-compliant container images using Docker.
Container Orchestration & Deployment: Direct experience configuring and deploying applications to Kubernetes clusters, including creating and managing Helm charts.
Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Practical proficiency in automating cloud or on-premise infrastructure provisioning using Terraform.
Collaborative Developer Support & Mentorship: Strong track record of providing direct technical support to engineering teammates, conducting code reviews, and resolving integration roadblocks in an agile environment.
Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Data Science, Computer Science, Computational Linguistics, Mathematics, or a related technical discipline, PLUS 14+ years of professional experience in data science, NLP, or software engineering OR High School Diploma / GED, PLUS 18+ years of specialized technical experience in lieu of a degree.
,
Desired Skills
Java Ecosystem Modernization: Experience refactoring legacy Java applications to modern LTS versions (e.g., Java 17/21) and microservice frameworks (e.g., Spring Boot, Quarkus).
CI/CD Pipeline Automation: Practical experience configuring continuous integration and automated deployment pipelines using platforms such as GitLab CI, Jenkins, or ArgoCD.
Cluster & Workload Monitoring: Familiarity with cluster observability and logging stacks such as Prometheus, Grafana, OpenSearch, or Fluentbit.
Mission Systems Security & Hardening: Experience applying container hardening standards (e.g., distroless base images, CVE scanning via Trivy) and aligning with mission security guidelines (e.g., DISA STIGs).
Distributed Data & Analytics Platforms: Familiarity with message brokers or distributed data engines (e.g., Apache Kafka, Apache Spark, or Elasticsearch) within cloud-native analytic architectures.
,
About Nyla Technology Solutions
Nyla Technology Solutions delivers exceptional Artificial Intelligence (AI), Data Science, and Software Engineering services for the U.S. Government. Nyla embraces a forward-thinking and bold approach at every turn, earning us a solid reputation of technical trendsetters within the industry. We have a passion for developing solutions that have a quick and immediate impact on mission. Headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, our customers love how we tackle their most challenging problems and get things done.
If you have the unique experience and expertise we are seeking, along with the desire and determination to invest your time and energy as a part of Nyla’s team,
Taking Care of All of You
Nyla provides a top-of-market compensation and benefits package. And through our unique Nyla FLEX program, we custom tailor these benefits to best fit your lifestyle.
The Nyla FLEX benefit program is designed to offer you flexibility in the 3 biggest areas of your life: your pay, your leave, and your schedule.
PAY - Nyla starts with 4 weeks of Annual Leave plus 11 holidays and an additional day of Annual Leave for each year you’re at the company. You have the flexibility to cash out your annual leave hours, opt out of other Nyla benefits, and/or arrange for additional hours on contract* (over 40 hrs/week). There’s even an option to earn 1.3 times your hourly rate once you work over 1880 hours on contract!
LEAVE - Want to spend more time with the family? Want more time to travel the world? You can BUY additional annual leave for a total of 6 weeks of annual leave. That’s up to 240 hours of leave plus 11 holidays! That’s not even including paid anniversary leave!
SCHEDULE - Does the traditional 40-hour workweek no longer fit your lifestyle? With Nyla FLEX, you have the freedom to scale down to 30-32 hours while still enjoying the top-notch Nyla benefits you know and love. It's flexibility that works for you without compromising the perks!
WHAT ABOUT OTHER BENEFITS? Nyla’s health care (medical, dental, and vision) is 100% covered by the company. We provide 10% 401k matching - with full vesting day 1! Our Professional Development offers $5,000 per year to be used towards fees, tuition, or time off for your continued growth. We even have a student loan repayment program and we provide 8 hours of volunteering annually so you can support your community, making your world a better place.
To learn more about Nyla's culture and our exceptional benefit packages click here.
Nyla is an equal opportunity employer.
See All 170+ Principal Engineer Jobs in Maryland
Find roles in Maryland that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
Find Principal Engineer JobsPrincipal Engineer Jobs by City in Maryland
Where Maryland roles are concentrated, by current openings.
Principal Engineer Job Market in Maryland
A snapshot from current Maryland openings, updated as new roles post.
Who's Hiring
- Northrop Grumman64
- Leidos11
- Global Enterprise Services6
- Riverstone Enterprise Solutions6
- JCSSolutions5
Top Industries Hiring
- Manufacturing
- Consulting & Professional Services
What Maryland Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in principal engineer jobs across Maryland.
- Bachelor's or master's degree in engineering, computer science, or a closely related technical discipline
- Ten or more years of progressive engineering experience with demonstrated technical leadership
- Active or current eligibility for a U.S. security clearance, required by many Maryland defense and federal contractors
- Deep expertise in a primary discipline such as software architecture, systems engineering, or embedded systems
- Proven record of defining technical direction and mentoring engineers across multiple project teams
- Experience collaborating with government or federal agency stakeholders, common in Maryland's contractor ecosystem
Principal Engineer Jobs in Maryland: Frequently Asked Questions
How do you become a principal engineer in Maryland?
Principal engineer is a seniority designation rather than a state-licensed title in Maryland, so there is no Maryland-specific engineering license required for software or systems principal engineer roles. Candidates pursuing roles at defense contractors or federal agencies typically hold a bachelor's or master's in engineering or computer science and accumulate deep technical experience over many years. Those working in licensed professional engineering domains can obtain a Professional Engineer license through the Maryland State Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, which adds credibility for infrastructure and civil disciplines.
Which companies hire principal engineers in Maryland?
Employers hiring principal engineers in Maryland right now include Northrop Grumman, Leidos, and Global Enterprise Services, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of November 2026. Maryland's dense concentration of defense contractors, federal agencies, and research institutions means hiring is especially active among large government-adjacent employers anchored in the Baltimore-Washington corridor.
Which Maryland cities have the most principal engineer jobs?
Baltimore, Annapolis Junction, and Fort Meade hold the most principal engineer openings in Maryland. The concentration reflects the dominance of defense contractors, federal agency partners, and technology firms clustered along the I-270 technology corridor and around Annapolis Junction, with Baltimore's anchor institutions and Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory driving demand in the eastern part of the state.
Are there remote principal engineer jobs in Maryland?
Yes, and more than most fields. About 59% of principal engineer openings tied to Maryland are remote or hybrid as of November 2026, reflecting the strong software and systems architecture emphasis in the state's tech sector. The roles most likely to offer full remote flexibility are those in software architecture and cloud platform engineering, while positions requiring access to classified facilities or laboratory hardware tend to remain on-site.
How can I get hired as a principal engineer in Maryland with little or no experience?
The most realistic path is to enter through an associate or mid-level engineering role at one of Maryland's large defense or technology employers and build toward the principal level over time. Employers such as Northrop Grumman and Leidos run structured new-graduate programs that place candidates into team-based rotations with mentorship tracks. Lateral moves from senior software engineer, systems engineer, or lead developer roles are the most common door into principal-level consideration. Pursuing a Professional Engineer license from the Maryland State Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors strengthens candidacy in regulated engineering disciplines.
Where can I find and apply to principal engineer jobs in Maryland?
You can find and apply to principal engineer jobs in Maryland on Migrate Mate, which lists current openings tied to the state. Search the listings to find roles that match your discipline and experience level, then apply directly to the ones that fit. No sign-up is required to see and apply to the openings.
See All 170+ Principal Engineer Jobs in Maryland
Find roles in Maryland that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
Find Principal Engineer Jobs