Senior Level Principal Software Engineer Jobs
Senior level principal software engineer jobs place experienced engineers in positions of technical authority, where they own architectural direction, drive cross-functional outcomes, and lead the teams and projects that shape product at scale. Openings lean heavily toward Technology & Software, Agriculture & Farming, and Electronics & Hardware, with 33% remote or hybrid availability, and employers like Palo Alto Networks, Roblox, and NVIDIA hiring at this level now.
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Mission Summary:
Motional's onboard autonomous driving system team works at the intersection of software engineering, machine learning, sensors, and hardware compute platforms to evolve Motional's next-generation on-board autonomous driving system. As part of this team, the High Performance Compute Platform team is responsible for Motional's current and next-generation onboard autonomous driving system. If you are a software engineer and love the idea of working on embedded AI hardware and software compute systems to create the next generation of autonomous vehicles, we would love to talk with you. We are hiring in a range of levels, from graduate engineers to Staff engineers.
What You'll Be Doing:
- Design and develop infrastructure software on various hardware platforms for applications such as vision processing, radar systems, safety monitoring, etc., to be run on self-driving vehicles.
- Design test harnesses for embedded software components and full systems
- Provide technical mentorship to engineers.
- Proactively work with cross-functional engineering teams to solve complex and interesting problems.
- Own and drive multi-quarter technical roadmaps for select areas.
What We're Looking For:
- Experience with creating detailed requirements from use cases.
- Ability to lead a technical initiative, including breaking down work and guiding other engineers through execution.
- Experience writing software for embedded platforms in C and C++.
- Experience with Test-Driven Development (TDD).
- Experience working on embedded Linux / RTOSs.
- Experience working with networks (Ethernet, CAN etc.) and the common networking protocols.
- Experience with debugging on embedded platforms.
- Experience writing software in Python and experience doing automation with shell scripting.
- Experience working with ARM Cortex MCUs or Microprocessors.
Bonus Points (not required):
- Experience with the NVIDIA Drive AGX platform and DriveOS ecosystem.
- Experience working with large data pipelines, and platforms that require deterministic execution.
- Experience using inter-system communication protocols such as I2C and SPI
- Experience deploying Machine Learning models.
- Experience working with GPUs.
- Experience working directly with the Linux kernel or Device Drivers.
- Experience with Simulation and Code Generation, and knowing when their use is appropriate.
- Experience working with Bazel.
- Experience integrating various sensors, including Cameras, IMUs, Radars, LIDARs.
- Experience with PyTorch, TensorFlow, ONNX, and/or other ML frameworks.
This role is hybrid from our Pittsburgh office. It requires in-office days each week to support collaboration.
Motional is a driverless technology company making autonomous vehicles a safe, reliable, and accessible reality. We're driven by something more.
Our journey is always people first.
We aren't just developing driverless cars; we're creating safer roadways, more equitable transportation options, and making our communities better places to live, work, and connect. Our team is made up of engineers, researchers, innovators, dreamers and doers, who are creating a technology with the potential to transform the way we move.
Higher purpose, greater impact.
We're creating first-of-its-kind technology that will transform transportation. To do so successfully, we must design for everyone in our cities and on our roads. We believe in building a great place to work through a progressive, global culture that is diverse, inclusive, and ensures people feel valued at every level of the organization. Diversity helps us to see the world differently; it's not only good for our business, it's the right thing to do.
Scale up, not starting up.
Our team is behind some of the industry's largest leaps forward, including the first fully-autonomous cross-country drive in the U.S, the launch of the world's first robotaxi pilot, and operation of the world's longest-standing public robotaxi fleet. We're driven to scale; we're moving towards commercialization of our technology, and we need team members who are ready to embrace change and challenges.
Formed as a joint venture between Hyundai Motor Group and Aptiv, Motional is fundamentally changing how people move through their lives. Headquartered in Boston, Motional has operations in the U.S and Asia. For more information, visit www.Motional.com and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.
Motional AD Inc. is an EOE. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. To comply with Federal Law, we participate in E-Verify. All newly-hired employees are queried through this electronic system established by the DHS and the SSA to verify their identity and employment eligibility.
Mission Summary:
Motional's onboard autonomous driving system team works at the intersection of software engineering, machine learning, sensors, and hardware compute platforms to evolve Motional's next-generation on-board autonomous driving system. As part of this team, the High Performance Compute Platform team is responsible for Motional's current and next-generation onboard autonomous driving system. If you are a software engineer and love the idea of working on embedded AI hardware and software compute systems to create the next generation of autonomous vehicles, we would love to talk with you. We are hiring in a range of levels, from graduate engineers to Staff engineers.
What You'll Be Doing:
- Design and develop infrastructure software on various hardware platforms for applications such as vision processing, radar systems, safety monitoring, etc., to be run on self-driving vehicles.
- Design test harnesses for embedded software components and full systems
- Provide technical mentorship to engineers.
- Proactively work with cross-functional engineering teams to solve complex and interesting problems.
- Own and drive multi-quarter technical roadmaps for select areas.
What We're Looking For:
- Experience with creating detailed requirements from use cases.
- Ability to lead a technical initiative, including breaking down work and guiding other engineers through execution.
- Experience writing software for embedded platforms in C and C++.
- Experience with Test-Driven Development (TDD).
- Experience working on embedded Linux / RTOSs.
- Experience working with networks (Ethernet, CAN etc.) and the common networking protocols.
- Experience with debugging on embedded platforms.
- Experience writing software in Python and experience doing automation with shell scripting.
- Experience working with ARM Cortex MCUs or Microprocessors.
Bonus Points (not required):
- Experience with the NVIDIA Drive AGX platform and DriveOS ecosystem.
- Experience working with large data pipelines, and platforms that require deterministic execution.
- Experience using inter-system communication protocols such as I2C and SPI
- Experience deploying Machine Learning models.
- Experience working with GPUs.
- Experience working directly with the Linux kernel or Device Drivers.
- Experience with Simulation and Code Generation, and knowing when their use is appropriate.
- Experience working with Bazel.
- Experience integrating various sensors, including Cameras, IMUs, Radars, LIDARs.
- Experience with PyTorch, TensorFlow, ONNX, and/or other ML frameworks.
This role is hybrid from our Pittsburgh office. It requires in-office days each week to support collaboration.
Motional is a driverless technology company making autonomous vehicles a safe, reliable, and accessible reality. We're driven by something more.
Our journey is always people first.
We aren't just developing driverless cars; we're creating safer roadways, more equitable transportation options, and making our communities better places to live, work, and connect. Our team is made up of engineers, researchers, innovators, dreamers and doers, who are creating a technology with the potential to transform the way we move.
Higher purpose, greater impact.
We're creating first-of-its-kind technology that will transform transportation. To do so successfully, we must design for everyone in our cities and on our roads. We believe in building a great place to work through a progressive, global culture that is diverse, inclusive, and ensures people feel valued at every level of the organization. Diversity helps us to see the world differently; it's not only good for our business, it's the right thing to do.
Scale up, not starting up.
Our team is behind some of the industry's largest leaps forward, including the first fully-autonomous cross-country drive in the U.S, the launch of the world's first robotaxi pilot, and operation of the world's longest-standing public robotaxi fleet. We're driven to scale; we're moving towards commercialization of our technology, and we need team members who are ready to embrace change and challenges.
Formed as a joint venture between Hyundai Motor Group and Aptiv, Motional is fundamentally changing how people move through their lives. Headquartered in Boston, Motional has operations in the U.S and Asia. For more information, visit www.Motional.com and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.
Motional AD Inc. is an EOE. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. To comply with Federal Law, we participate in E-Verify. All newly-hired employees are queried through this electronic system established by the DHS and the SSA to verify their identity and employment eligibility.
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Find JobsSenior Level Principal Software Engineer Job Market
Who's Hiring
- Palo Alto Networks52
- Roblox32
- NVIDIA27
- Raytheon24
- Oracle22
Top Industries Hiring
- Technology & Software339
- Agriculture & Farming44
- Electronics & Hardware38
- Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals31
- Artificial Intelligence29
Senior Level Principal Software Engineer Jobs: Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get a senior level principal software engineer job?
Employers hiring at this level look for engineers who have already led high-stakes technical decisions and influenced engineering culture, not just shipped features. A strong candidate demonstrates ownership of system-wide architecture, a history of mentoring engineers, and the ability to align technical strategy with business goals. Concrete examples of cross-team impact and measurable outcomes carry the most weight in the application process.
Which companies hire senior level principal software engineers?
Companies hiring senior level principal software engineers right now include Palo Alto Networks, Roblox, and NVIDIA, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of July 2026. Hiring at this level covers large technology companies, financial institutions, and growth-stage enterprises that need senior individual contributors to set technical direction without moving into management.
Are there remote senior level principal software engineer jobs?
Yes, remote and hybrid options are common at this level. About 33% of senior level principal software engineer openings are remote or hybrid as of July 2026, reflecting how many organizations trust senior engineers to operate independently across distributed teams. On-site roles do exist, particularly at companies where close collaboration on complex infrastructure is a priority.
What makes a principal software engineer role senior level?
A senior level principal software engineer role is defined by scope and ownership rather than task execution. Engineers at this stage are expected to own architectural decisions across multiple systems, set technical standards for the broader engineering organization, and actively develop the engineers around them. The work shifts from delivering within a defined scope to defining the scope itself and ensuring the team can execute against it.
Which industries hire the most senior level principal software engineers?
Senior Level principal software engineer roles concentrate in Technology & Software, Agriculture & Farming, and Electronics & Hardware, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of July 2026. These sectors drive hiring at this level because they operate complex, high-scale systems where senior engineering leadership directly affects product reliability, platform growth, and competitive differentiation.