Principal Engineer Jobs in Missouri
Principal Engineer jobs in Missouri concentrate in aerospace and defense, advanced manufacturing, and enterprise software, with consistent demand from entry-level technical leads through senior architects overseeing large program portfolios. Kansas City and St. Louis anchor most of the hiring activity, with Columbia growing as an engineering hub tied to the University of Missouri system and its research commercialization networks. Established employers including Boeing, Emerson Electric, and Cerner have long maintained principal-level engineering teams in the state across systems, embedded, and software disciplines. Scan the live roles below and apply to whichever ones fit.
Find Principal Engineer JobsOverview
Showing 5 of 24+ Principal Engineer jobs
Join Crown Packaging Corp.
At Crown Packaging Corp., our people are central to our continued success. As a privately held company with operations across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, we value integrity, accountability, collaboration, thoughtful leadership, and continuous improvement.
We are seeking a hands-on Principal Full Stack Software Engineer to build and modernize our digital commerce and enterprise platforms. This role is for an independent engineer who can take a business concept and turn it into a well-designed, working solution with guidance rather than detailed specifications.
About the Role
As technical lead on applications, the Principal Full Stack Software Engineer clarifies requirements with stakeholders, designs, builds with AI-assisted development tools, tests, releases and supports solutions. This engineer helps shape solution architecture across our Ecommerce, ERP and PIM systems and related suite of applications, and keeps projects organized and on track.
The ideal candidate brings deep experience in C# and .NET, a background with Ecommerce platforms, everyday fluency developing with AI tools, and the design judgment to tell well-built code from code that merely works, whether a person or an AI wrote it. This role reports to the Director and offers an opportunity to grow into engineering leadership as the team expands.
What You’ll Do
Technical Leadership & Delivery
- Take conceptual requests and turn them into designs with options and a recommendation, then build and deliver the solution
- Serve as technical lead on one or more applications, working independently across requirements, design, development, testing, release and production support
- Work directly with sales, operations and customer-facing stakeholders to clarify needs and confirm solutions
- Make sound technical decisions independently, weighing tradeoffs in cost, risk and maintainability, and bring forward only the decisions that need leadership input
- Keep leadership informed with concise progress updates, and raise risks and decisions early with clear options
Engineering & Architecture
- Full stack development in a .NET and C# environment, including modern front-end frameworks
- Contribute to and help shape solution architecture so systems stay modular, scalable and maintainable, and document significant design decisions
- Guide efforts to modernize and modularize applications as business priorities require
- Implement and maintain integrations with Ecommerce, PIM and ERP systems
- Use Azure services to deliver secure, scalable cloud-native solutions
AI-Assisted Development
- Develop with AI coding tools such as Claude Code, directing AI effectively by breaking work into well-scoped tasks, providing the right context, and reviewing and refining the AI’s plan and code for structure, correctness, security, performance and test coverage
- Identify automation opportunities across the business, and design, build and review AI agents and workflows to address them, including permissions, human approval steps and failure handling
- Apply AI security practices: guard against prompt injection, data leakage and over-permissioned tools, and follow company rules on what data may be shared with AI services
Quality, Release & Operations
- Leverage AI to build and maintain automated test suites, including end-to-end tests, running in Azure DevOps CI/CD pipelines
- Follow standard SDLC practices, including source control, pull requests and releases through Azure DevOps CI/CD
- Containerize, deploy and run applications with Docker, and use logging and monitoring tools to keep them healthy in production
- Produce and maintain technical documentation for systems, integrations and architecture
Organization & Coordination
- Stay well organized and self-directed, planning, prioritizing and tracking work so it stays on schedule
- When needed, organize tasks and coordinate developers on a team project, using lightweight practices
Qualifications
- 7+ years of professional software engineering experience with .NET and modern JavaScript frameworks
- Proven ability to work independently, delivering applications or major features from loosely defined requirements with minimal oversight
- Track record of good judgment in making and owning technical decisions with incomplete information, and knowing when to escalate
- Strong command of software design (modular architecture, SOLID principles, common design patterns) and sound judgment about code and design quality
- Daily, hands-on use of AI coding tools such as Claude Code or GitHub Copilot in professional work, with concrete examples of how you direct and review them
- Hands-on experience building AI agents or LLM-based applications for automation, including tool use, Model Context Protocol (MCP) and multi-step workflows
- Working knowledge of secure coding best practices and AI security risks such as prompt injection, data leakage and agent permissions
- Hands-on test automation experience integrated into CI/CD pipelines
- Strong background in Ecommerce solutions and ERP/PIM integrations
- Proficiency with relational databases (Oracle or other RDBMS) and hands-on experience with Azure services, Azure DevOps pipelines and Docker
- Clear communicator with non-technical stakeholders, well organized, and able to quickly learn new languages, frameworks and tools
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience building AI agents or LLM-powered features running in production
- Proven ability to lead modernization efforts such as platform migrations and modular design initiatives
- Familiarity with event-driven and API-first architectures
- Experience coordinating small team projects or serving as a tech lead
- Experience with Elasticsearch and with Grafana or similar monitoring tools
- Experience with JD Edwards (JDE), BigCommerce, Microsoft Entra ID or .NET Blazor
Success in the Role
Why Join Crown Packaging?
At Crown Packaging, you're not just joining a company, you're joining a team where people build long-term careers. We're a privately held, financially stable organization with a strong reputation, a collaborative culture, and employees who choose to stay and grow with us for years.
Here's what makes Crown different:
Career Stability – Join a successful, growing company that has built lasting relationships with customers and employees alike.
Great People & Meaningful Work – Work with supportive teammates in a collaborative environment where your contributions are valued and make a real impact.
Opportunities to Grow – Benefit from comprehensive onboarding, training, and professional development designed to help you succeed.
Leadership That Cares – Our leadership team is passionate about the business, our customers, and most importantly, our employees.
A Culture People Stay For – We are proud of our exceptional employee tenure, which reflects the positive environment and opportunities available across the organization.
Competitive Benefits – Medical, Dental, Vision, company-paid Life Insurance and Short-Term Disability, supplemental insurance options, and a 401(k) with company match.
Work-Life Balance – Enjoy a generous PTO program plus 8.5 paid holidays each year.
Join Crown Packaging and discover why so many employees choose to build their careers here. We offer the stability of an established company, the support of a close-knit team, and the opportunity to make a meaningful impact every day.
Who Thrives at Crown Packaging?
Successful Principal Full Stack Software Engineers are independent, dependable engineers who combine strong design judgment with a practical understanding of the business. They turn concepts into working solutions, communicate clearly with non-technical partners, and take ownership of both routine delivery and complex technical decisions.
You may be a great fit if you:
- Own technical decisions - weigh tradeoffs with incomplete information and know when to escalate.
- Protect quality - tell well-built code from code that merely works, whether a person or an AI wrote it.
- Direct AI effectively - use AI tools daily, with scoped tasks, the right context and careful review.
- Design for the long term - build modular, scalable, maintainable systems and modernize as priorities require.
- Build strong partnerships - explain technical options clearly to sales, operations and customer-facing teams.
- Stay organized - plan, prioritize and track work so projects stay on schedule.
Join Crown Packaging Corp.
At Crown Packaging Corp., our people are central to our continued success. As a privately held company with operations across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, we value integrity, accountability, collaboration, thoughtful leadership, and continuous improvement.
We are seeking a hands-on Principal Full Stack Software Engineer to build and modernize our digital commerce and enterprise platforms. This role is for an independent engineer who can take a business concept and turn it into a well-designed, working solution with guidance rather than detailed specifications.
About the Role
As technical lead on applications, the Principal Full Stack Software Engineer clarifies requirements with stakeholders, designs, builds with AI-assisted development tools, tests, releases and supports solutions. This engineer helps shape solution architecture across our Ecommerce, ERP and PIM systems and related suite of applications, and keeps projects organized and on track.
The ideal candidate brings deep experience in C# and .NET, a background with Ecommerce platforms, everyday fluency developing with AI tools, and the design judgment to tell well-built code from code that merely works, whether a person or an AI wrote it. This role reports to the Director and offers an opportunity to grow into engineering leadership as the team expands.
What You’ll Do
Technical Leadership & Delivery
- Take conceptual requests and turn them into designs with options and a recommendation, then build and deliver the solution
- Serve as technical lead on one or more applications, working independently across requirements, design, development, testing, release and production support
- Work directly with sales, operations and customer-facing stakeholders to clarify needs and confirm solutions
- Make sound technical decisions independently, weighing tradeoffs in cost, risk and maintainability, and bring forward only the decisions that need leadership input
- Keep leadership informed with concise progress updates, and raise risks and decisions early with clear options
Engineering & Architecture
- Full stack development in a .NET and C# environment, including modern front-end frameworks
- Contribute to and help shape solution architecture so systems stay modular, scalable and maintainable, and document significant design decisions
- Guide efforts to modernize and modularize applications as business priorities require
- Implement and maintain integrations with Ecommerce, PIM and ERP systems
- Use Azure services to deliver secure, scalable cloud-native solutions
AI-Assisted Development
- Develop with AI coding tools such as Claude Code, directing AI effectively by breaking work into well-scoped tasks, providing the right context, and reviewing and refining the AI’s plan and code for structure, correctness, security, performance and test coverage
- Identify automation opportunities across the business, and design, build and review AI agents and workflows to address them, including permissions, human approval steps and failure handling
- Apply AI security practices: guard against prompt injection, data leakage and over-permissioned tools, and follow company rules on what data may be shared with AI services
Quality, Release & Operations
- Leverage AI to build and maintain automated test suites, including end-to-end tests, running in Azure DevOps CI/CD pipelines
- Follow standard SDLC practices, including source control, pull requests and releases through Azure DevOps CI/CD
- Containerize, deploy and run applications with Docker, and use logging and monitoring tools to keep them healthy in production
- Produce and maintain technical documentation for systems, integrations and architecture
Organization & Coordination
- Stay well organized and self-directed, planning, prioritizing and tracking work so it stays on schedule
- When needed, organize tasks and coordinate developers on a team project, using lightweight practices
Qualifications
- 7+ years of professional software engineering experience with .NET and modern JavaScript frameworks
- Proven ability to work independently, delivering applications or major features from loosely defined requirements with minimal oversight
- Track record of good judgment in making and owning technical decisions with incomplete information, and knowing when to escalate
- Strong command of software design (modular architecture, SOLID principles, common design patterns) and sound judgment about code and design quality
- Daily, hands-on use of AI coding tools such as Claude Code or GitHub Copilot in professional work, with concrete examples of how you direct and review them
- Hands-on experience building AI agents or LLM-based applications for automation, including tool use, Model Context Protocol (MCP) and multi-step workflows
- Working knowledge of secure coding best practices and AI security risks such as prompt injection, data leakage and agent permissions
- Hands-on test automation experience integrated into CI/CD pipelines
- Strong background in Ecommerce solutions and ERP/PIM integrations
- Proficiency with relational databases (Oracle or other RDBMS) and hands-on experience with Azure services, Azure DevOps pipelines and Docker
- Clear communicator with non-technical stakeholders, well organized, and able to quickly learn new languages, frameworks and tools
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience building AI agents or LLM-powered features running in production
- Proven ability to lead modernization efforts such as platform migrations and modular design initiatives
- Familiarity with event-driven and API-first architectures
- Experience coordinating small team projects or serving as a tech lead
- Experience with Elasticsearch and with Grafana or similar monitoring tools
- Experience with JD Edwards (JDE), BigCommerce, Microsoft Entra ID or .NET Blazor
Success in the Role
Why Join Crown Packaging?
At Crown Packaging, you're not just joining a company, you're joining a team where people build long-term careers. We're a privately held, financially stable organization with a strong reputation, a collaborative culture, and employees who choose to stay and grow with us for years.
Here's what makes Crown different:
Career Stability – Join a successful, growing company that has built lasting relationships with customers and employees alike.
Great People & Meaningful Work – Work with supportive teammates in a collaborative environment where your contributions are valued and make a real impact.
Opportunities to Grow – Benefit from comprehensive onboarding, training, and professional development designed to help you succeed.
Leadership That Cares – Our leadership team is passionate about the business, our customers, and most importantly, our employees.
A Culture People Stay For – We are proud of our exceptional employee tenure, which reflects the positive environment and opportunities available across the organization.
Competitive Benefits – Medical, Dental, Vision, company-paid Life Insurance and Short-Term Disability, supplemental insurance options, and a 401(k) with company match.
Work-Life Balance – Enjoy a generous PTO program plus 8.5 paid holidays each year.
Join Crown Packaging and discover why so many employees choose to build their careers here. We offer the stability of an established company, the support of a close-knit team, and the opportunity to make a meaningful impact every day.
Who Thrives at Crown Packaging?
Successful Principal Full Stack Software Engineers are independent, dependable engineers who combine strong design judgment with a practical understanding of the business. They turn concepts into working solutions, communicate clearly with non-technical partners, and take ownership of both routine delivery and complex technical decisions.
You may be a great fit if you:
- Own technical decisions - weigh tradeoffs with incomplete information and know when to escalate.
- Protect quality - tell well-built code from code that merely works, whether a person or an AI wrote it.
- Direct AI effectively - use AI tools daily, with scoped tasks, the right context and careful review.
- Design for the long term - build modular, scalable, maintainable systems and modernize as priorities require.
- Build strong partnerships - explain technical options clearly to sales, operations and customer-facing teams.
- Stay organized - plan, prioritize and track work so projects stay on schedule.
See All 24 Principal Engineer Jobs in Missouri
Find roles in Missouri that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
Find Principal Engineer JobsPrincipal Engineer Jobs by City in Missouri
Where Missouri roles are concentrated, by current openings.
Principal Engineer Job Market in Missouri
A snapshot from current Missouri openings, updated as new roles post.
Who's Hiring
What Missouri Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in principal engineer jobs across Missouri.
- Bachelor's degree in engineering or computer science with eight or more years of technical experience
- Demonstrated ability to own end-to-end technical architecture across complex, multi-team programs
- Proficiency in the engineering discipline central to the role, such as systems, software, or electrical
- Experience leading technical reviews, setting engineering standards, and mentoring senior engineers
- Strong cross-functional collaboration skills with product management, program management, and operations
- Familiarity with industry-specific regulatory or compliance frameworks relevant to the hiring sector
Principal Engineer Jobs in Missouri: Frequently Asked Questions
How do you become a principal engineer in Missouri?
Reaching principal engineer level in Missouri typically requires a bachelor's degree in engineering or computer science followed by a sustained record of technical ownership across large programs. For roles in civil, structural, or mechanical disciplines, Missouri requires licensure through the Missouri Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Professional Land Surveyors, and Professional Geologists, which administers the PE exam. In software and systems, employers define the role by scope and impact rather than a state license, making internal promotion or direct application the primary path.
Which companies hire principal engineers in Missouri?
Missouri principal engineer roles are posted by Mastercard, Northrop Grumman, and Brewer Science and others right now, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of November 2026. Missouri's concentration in aerospace, industrial automation, and healthcare technology means hiring tends to cluster around large engineering-driven organizations headquartered or with major operations in Kansas City and St. Louis.
Which Missouri cities have the most principal engineer jobs?
St. Louis, O'Fallon, and Rolla account for the most principal engineer openings in Missouri. St. Louis drives volume through its aerospace, defense, and life sciences base, Kansas City through enterprise software and advanced manufacturing, and smaller markets like Columbia benefit from proximity to research institutions and technology spin-offs tied to the University of Missouri system.
Are there remote principal engineer jobs in Missouri?
Yes, and more than most technical fields. About 100% of principal engineer openings tied to Missouri are remote or hybrid as of November 2026, reflecting how much of the work centers on architecture, code review, and cross-team coordination rather than physical presence. Software and cloud infrastructure roles show the highest remote availability, while embedded systems or lab-dependent engineering roles tend to require on-site work.
How can I get hired as a principal engineer in Missouri with little or no experience?
The most realistic path is landing a senior engineer role first and building a record of technical leadership from within. Large Missouri employers like Boeing and Emerson run structured new-graduate and rotational engineering programs that develop technical contributors toward principal-level scope over time. Moving from a senior software engineer, systems engineer, or staff engineer title into principal is the standard internal route. Earning a Professional Engineer license through the Missouri PE exam also strengthens candidacy for principal roles in disciplines where licensure is recognized as a proxy for technical authority.
Where can I find and apply to principal engineer jobs in Missouri?
You can find and apply to principal engineer jobs in Missouri on Migrate Mate, which lists current Missouri openings. Search the available roles, identify the ones that match your discipline and experience level, and apply directly to the ones that fit.
See All 24 Principal Engineer Jobs in Missouri
Find roles in Missouri that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
Find Principal Engineer Jobs