Principal Software Engineer Jobs
Principal Software Engineer jobs are open across fintech, healthtech, enterprise software, and cloud infrastructure, from senior engineer to staff and principal level, with specializations in distributed systems, platform engineering, and machine learning infrastructure. Find a role that fits from the openings below and apply directly.
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ABOUT ELEMYNT
Elemynt builds secure AI infrastructure for scientific and engineering R&D teams. Our platform helps organizations connect data, models, compute, and expert workflows in environments where reliability, traceability, and data control matter.
We are building a small, ambitious engineering team across Singapore and the United States to turn advanced scientific computing into production software that real technical teams can use.
ABOUT THE ROLE
Elemynt’s platform turns scientific and engineering data into reusable assets for analysis, model training, and automated workflows.
This role owns the data and AI engineering foundation that makes those systems reliable, scalable, and measurable. You will define core patterns for data modeling, training pipelines, evaluation systems, and intelligent workflow interfaces, then prove those patterns in production code.
This is a hands on principal role for someone who can set technical direction and still build the hardest parts themselves.
WHAT YOU WILL DO
- Architect the data foundation for large scale scientific and engineering output, keeping results clean, queryable, reusable, and ready for model training.
- Model domain specific scientific data so the same datasets can support interactive analysis, automation, and downstream machine learning workflows.
- Build scalable data processing patterns across object storage, analytical stores, and training optimized formats.
- Create machine learning data pipelines for curation, deduplication, formatting, evaluation sets, and regression tracking.
- Build and operate training and fine tuning pipelines for models used in scientific and workflow driven products.
- Develop intelligent workflow interfaces that connect user intent, structured platform capabilities and executable workflows without exposing unnecessary complexity to users.
- Own model evaluation, benchmarking, automated scoring, and quality tracking so each iteration is measurable.
- Set data and AI engineering standards for the team and turn them into code, documentation, and reusable patterns.
WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science or a related engineering field, with 10 plus years building and shipping production software.
- Expert Python and a strong record of shipping systems end to end.
- Deep experience with large scale data systems, including object storage, analytical processing, training optimized formats, and production data pipelines.
- Hands on experience building data pipelines for model training, fine tuning, evaluation, and continuous improvement.
- Direct experience training or fine tuning models for structured outputs, tool use, workflow automation, or domain specific applications.
- Strong understanding of relational, document, and columnar data models, with judgment about where each belongs.
- Comfort operating in cloud, enterprise, and technical compute environments, including distributed training or large scale batch processing.
- Ability to set technical direction in ambiguous early stage environments and carry it through implementation.
NICE TO HAVE
- Experience applying machine learning to scientific data, such as property prediction, generative models, graph based methods, or simulation data.
- Experience with atomistic, materials, chemistry, or engineering data systems.
- Experience with retrieval over structured data, knowledge graphs, or hybrid search systems.
- Experience designing APIs or tool interfaces that intelligent systems can call reliably.
- Experience building complex data and machine learning workflows on production orchestrators.
- Contributions to open source machine learning, data infrastructure, or scientific computing tools.
LOCATION
Singapore or United States. Work model is on site or hybrid, depending on location.
CLOSING NOTE
You do not need to tick every box. If this is clearly your kind of work, we would like to hear from you.
Principal Software Engineer Jobs by Experience Level
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Find JobsPrincipal Software Engineer Job Market
Who's Hiring
- Northrop Grumman211N
- CVS Health106

- Palo Alto Networks70

- Raytheon64R
- Collins Aerospace56C
Top Industries Hiring
- Technology & Software190
- Agriculture & Farming54
- Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals31
- Aerospace & Defense25
- Electronics & Hardware25
What Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in principal software engineer jobs.
- 8 or more years of software engineering experience with demonstrated technical leadership
- Deep expertise in distributed systems design, scalability, and reliability engineering
- Proficiency in one or more of Java, Python, Go, or C++ at production scale
- Experience driving cross-team technical strategy and defining engineering standards
- Strong communication skills for aligning engineering work with business objectives
- Bachelor's or master's degree in computer science, software engineering, or a related field
Tips for Your Principal Software Engineer Job Search
Reframe your resume around scope
Principal-level hiring managers want to see the blast radius of your decisions. Replace feature-level accomplishments with org-wide or multi-team impact: systems you designed that other teams now depend on, architectural calls you made that held up at scale.
Apply early to roles that fit
Migrate Mate lists principal software engineer openings from across the United States in one place, so you can find roles that match and apply directly to each listing.
Match your search to your technical depth
Filter openings by the domain where your system-design credibility is strongest. A principal with deep expertise in distributed storage competes differently than one who owns developer platforms. Targeting roles that match your actual depth gets you past the first screen faster.
Prepare a system design narrative
Principal interviews almost always include an open-ended system design round where you're expected to drive the conversation, handle ambiguity, and articulate trade-offs. Practice narrating a real architecture decision you owned, not a textbook example, out loud before your first interview.
Negotiate scope and reporting line, not just pay
At the principal level, what you own matters as much as the offer. Before accepting, clarify who you report to, whether you have a technical charter, and how much autonomy you have over roadmap. These details determine your actual ability to do the job well.
Follow up with a technical take
After your final-round interview, send a follow-up that references a specific technical problem the team mentioned and adds one concrete thought on it. It signals you were listening and that you think about problems beyond the interview room.
Principal Software Engineer Jobs: Frequently Asked Questions
Which companies are hiring the most principal software engineers?
The companies hiring the most principal software engineers right now include Northrop Grumman, CVS Health, and Palo Alto Networks, with the largest share of openings in California, Texas, and Washington, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of August 2026. Demand is concentrated in companies scaling cloud infrastructure, developer tooling, and enterprise platform teams.
How many principal software engineer jobs are remote?
About 43% of principal software engineer openings are fully remote or hybrid as of August 2026, reflecting the senior nature of the role and employer trust in experienced engineers to work autonomously. Platform engineering, infrastructure, and developer tools roles tend to have the highest share of remote arrangements compared to product-embedded or on-site architecture positions.
How do you become a principal software engineer?
You become a principal software engineer by demonstrating consistent impact beyond your immediate team. That means shipping systems other engineers depend on, making architectural decisions that outlast any single project, and mentoring engineers who grow because of your involvement. Most engineers reach this level after spending several years as a senior engineer where they've owned cross-cutting technical problems and built a reputation for sound judgment under ambiguity.
Can you get a principal software engineer job without prior principal-level experience?
You can get a principal software engineer job without the exact title if your work history reflects principal-level scope. Hiring teams look for evidence you've owned systems with broad organizational impact, influenced technical direction across teams, and operated with minimal oversight. Strong portfolio artifacts like design documents, architectural review records, or open-source projects you've led carry more weight than a matching title on your resume.
What does the principal software engineer interview process look like?
The principal software engineer interview process typically includes a recruiter screen, one or more technical phone interviews focused on system design and past architectural decisions, a coding round that tests depth rather than speed, and a final loop with engineering leadership and cross-functional partners. The system design and leadership rounds carry the most weight at this level, and many loops include a conversation about how you've influenced technical culture or mentored other engineers.
Where can I find and apply to principal software engineer jobs?
You can find and apply to principal software engineer jobs on Migrate Mate, which lists current openings from companies across the United States. Search the listings to find roles that match your technical background and seniority, then apply directly to each opening that fits.
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