Principal Test Engineer Jobs

Principal Test Engineer jobs are open across software development, embedded systems, and hardware manufacturing industries, from automotive and aerospace to enterprise software, covering specializations in test automation, quality assurance strategy, and systems validation, at levels from senior engineer to principal and staff. Scan the live roles below and apply to whichever ones fit.

Find Principal Test Engineer Jobs

Overview

Open roles221+
Top stateCalifornia
Top employerNorthrop Grumman
Top citySan Diego, CA
Work type54% On-site
Top industryTechnology

Showing 5 of 221+ Principal Test Engineer jobs

Principal Engineer, ATE Test Engineering - Customer Engineering Solutions
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New 17h ago
Principal Engineer, ATE Test Engineering - Customer Engineering Solutions
Marvell Technology
Irvine, California
Product Management
Software Engineering
Technical Product & Program Management
$138k - $205k/yr
Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering
5,001-10,000

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Test Engineer / Principal Test Engineer - Lab Manager
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New 18h ago
Test Engineer / Principal Test Engineer - Lab Manager
Northrop Grumman
Baltimore, Maryland
Account Management
Customer Service
Customer Success
$80k - $148k/yr
On-Site
Master's degree
10,000+

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Lead Test Architect / Principal Software Engineer – Unit Test Development
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New 21h ago
Lead Test Architect / Principal Software Engineer – Unit Test Development
CFD Research Corporation
Huntsville, Alabama
Clinical Support
Healthcare Administration
Medical Assistant
201-500

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Principal Electrical & Electronics (E&E) Engineer – Test Solutions – Onsite (Tewksbury/Andover, MA)
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Added 1d ago
Principal Electrical & Electronics (E&E) Engineer – Test Solutions – Onsite (Tewksbury/Andover, MA)
Raytheon
Tewksbury, Massachusetts
Electrical Engineering
Engineering (Non-Software)
$108k - $205k/yr
On-Site
Bachelor's degree in engineering
10,000+

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Principal System Engineer - Test Architect
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Added 1d ago
Principal System Engineer - Test Architect
Raytheon
Tucson, Arizona
Business Strategy
Product Management
Project & Program Management
Project Management
$118k - $225k/yr
On-Site
10,000+

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Principal Test Engineer Job Market

Who's Hiring

  • Northrop Grumman73
  • Raytheon22
  • BAE Systems USA11
  • Marvell Technology8
  • Collins Aerospace6

Top Industries Hiring

  • Technology & Software
  • Manufacturing
  • Medical Devices
  • Banking & Financial Services

What Employers Look For

The qualifications that appear most often in principal test engineer jobs.

  • 8 or more years of software testing experience with at least 3 in a lead or principal capacity
  • Proficiency in test automation frameworks such as Selenium, Cypress, Pytest, or similar tools
  • Experience designing and implementing CI/CD-integrated test pipelines using tools like Jenkins or GitHub Actions
  • Strong knowledge of API testing, performance testing, and test strategy across the full SDLC
  • Bachelor's degree in computer science, software engineering, or a related technical discipline
  • ISTQB Advanced or Expert certification, or equivalent demonstrated expertise in test architecture

Tips for Your Principal Test Engineer Job Search

Quantify test coverage impact on your resume

Hiring managers for principal-level roles want numbers, not duties. Replace vague statements with metrics like defect escape rates you reduced, test cycle time you cut, or the scale of automation frameworks you architected and owned end to end.

Highlight cross-functional leadership explicitly

Principal test engineers are expected to influence product and development teams, not just run QA. Call out specific examples where you defined test strategy, drove quality gates into the CI/CD pipeline, or changed how engineering teams approach testability upstream.

Apply early to roles that fit

Migrate Mate lists principal test engineer openings from across the United States in one place, so you can find roles that match your specialization and apply directly to each listing without sorting through unrelated results.

Filter openings by tech stack match

Principal roles are almost always stack-specific. Prioritize openings where your exact combination of test frameworks, languages, and tooling appears in the job description, since mismatched stacks are the most common reason senior candidates get filtered before a phone screen.

Prepare a system design answer for test infrastructure

Most principal test engineer interviews include a technical design round focused on test architecture, not just coding. Practice explaining how you would design a scalable test infrastructure from scratch, including parallelization, flakiness management, and reporting pipelines, for the company's product type.

Negotiate scope and reporting structure, not just pay

At the principal level, your leverage is organizational influence. Before accepting, clarify whether you have authority over test strategy across multiple teams, direct access to product leadership, and a path to shape quality culture, since those factors affect your day-to-day impact more than title alone.

Principal Test Engineer Jobs: Frequently Asked Questions

Which companies are hiring the most principal test engineers?

The most active employers for principal test engineers right now are Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, and BAE Systems USA, and the most openings are in California, Maryland, and Massachusetts, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of November 2026. Demand is strongest at companies running large-scale software platforms and hardware-software integrated products.

How many principal test engineer jobs are remote?

About 46% of principal test engineer openings are fully remote or hybrid as of November 2026, reflecting the role's heavy focus on strategic and architectural work that does not require on-site presence. Fully remote options are most common in pure software roles, while embedded systems and hardware validation positions more often require some on-site access to lab equipment.

How do you become a principal test engineer?

Start by building deep expertise in test automation and quality strategy, then take on ownership of test architecture decisions at the team level. Progress to leading quality initiatives across multiple teams, mentoring other engineers, and influencing how testability is built into product design from the start. Principal-level recognition typically follows demonstrated impact on engineering quality outcomes, not just years of service.

Can you get hired as a principal test engineer without prior principal-level experience?

Yes, if you can demonstrate principal-level impact in a senior role. Focus your resume on test infrastructure you designed, quality processes you established, and cross-team influence you exercised, even without the title. Some companies promote strong senior candidates directly when they can show ownership of system-wide test strategy and evidence of shaping engineering quality culture.

What does the principal test engineer interview process look like?

Expect a recruiter screen, a technical phone round covering automation and testing concepts, a system design session focused on test infrastructure architecture, and a behavioral round assessing leadership and cross-functional influence. Some companies add a take-home exercise or a live debugging session. Final rounds often include a panel with engineering managers and product leadership evaluating strategic thinking and communication.

Where can I find and apply to principal test engineer jobs?

You can find and apply to principal test engineer jobs on Migrate Mate, which lists current openings from across the United States. Search the roles available, find the ones that match your specialization and experience level, and apply directly to each listing that fits.

See All 221+ Principal Test Engineer Jobs

Find roles that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.

Find Principal Test Engineer Jobs