Remote Principal Engineer Jobs
Remote principal engineer jobs are open across the U.S. at remote-first firms and distributed engineering teams in sectors like software, cloud infrastructure, fintech, and healthcare technology. Employers hiring remotely right now include CVS Health, Atlassian, and Shutterfly. See the openings below and apply to the ones that match your experience.
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Showing 5 of 282+ Remote Principal Engineer jobs
Pay is based on several factors which vary based on position. These include labor markets and in some instances may include education, work experience and certifications. In addition to your pay, Target cares about and invests in you as a team member, so that you can take care of yourself and your family. Target offers eligible team members and their dependents comprehensive health benefits and programs, which may include medical, vision, dental, life insurance and more, to help you and your family take care of your whole selves. Other benefits for eligible team members include 401(k), employee discount, short term disability, long term disability, paid sick leave, paid national holidays, and paid vacation. Find competitive benefits from financial and education to well-being and beyond at https://corporate.target.com/careers/benefits.
About us:
Working at Target means helping all families discover the joy of everyday life. We bring that vision to life through our values and culture. Learn more about Target here.
As a Principal Engineer you set the strategy for software development and/or infrastructure engineering at Target. You set the direction for how software and infrastructure engineering efforts will be designed, developed, and operationalized across multiple portfolios and drives adoption across TTS. You lead and approve software and infrastructure engineering efforts to meet functional and non-functional requirements. You are a thought leader and mentor for internal and external technical talent and actively contribute to the external technical community.
Use your skills, experience and talents to be a part of groundbreaking thinking and visionary goals. As a Principal Engineer, you’ll take the lead as you…
Understand Target's business and technical environments and assist teams in resolving complex business challenges via current technical solutions by assessing viability/applicability/cost implication through POCs and prototypes. Collaborate with technical staff and Enterprise Architecture teams in setting technical direction across platform and drive technology lifecycle management and communication of standards/decisions to the engineering team. Participate in procurement specifications, installation, and maintenance of Target systems. Lead designing and building the Target platform API with deep focus on non-functional requirement including scalability, availability, performance, etc. while being a strong advocate of extreme agile and DevOps practices across engineers. Work with engineering leaders to build a high performing engineering team and provide technical leadership, coaching, motivation and participate in the selection of technical talent.
Core responsibilities of this job are described within this job description. Job duties may change at any time due to business needs.
- 4 year degree or equivalent experience. Continuing education to maintain thorough knowledge of technical domains along with staying current in latest technologies
- 12+ years of experience in technology development or services
- 4+ years of experience in strategic planning and setting technical direction
- Possesses a strong understanding of systems programming and control languages as required by your domain. Has demonstrated success in solving complex technical problems in more than one technical or functional areas
- Understands business fundamentals and how technologies can support business goals along with how to translate business vision into a technical strategy while understanding the financial implications
- Has proven leadership capabilities, the ability to influence others, interpersonal skills, and problem solving skills
- Strong team player who understands concepts of teamwork and team effectiveness.
- Has excellent verbal, written, and presentation communication skills to convey complex technical solutions clearly to an organization
- Has excellent planning and organizational skills.
- Experience in Java/ J2EE, sql/ no-sql (postgre, mongoDB, Cassandra, graph structure, etc.), Python, Ruby, Chef, Drone, Kubernetes containers, Cloud tech, etc.
Benefits Eligibility
Please paste this url into your preferred browser to learn about benefits eligibility for this role: https://tgt.biz/BenefitsForYou_FAmericans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
In compliance with state and federal laws, Target will make reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities. If a reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, please reach out to candidate.accommodations@HRHelp.Target.com. Non-accommodation-related requests, such as application follow-ups or technical issues, will not be addressed through this channel.
Application deadline is : 09/26/2026Pay is based on several factors which vary based on position. These include labor markets and in some instances may include education, work experience and certifications. In addition to your pay, Target cares about and invests in you as a team member, so that you can take care of yourself and your family. Target offers eligible team members and their dependents comprehensive health benefits and programs, which may include medical, vision, dental, life insurance and more, to help you and your family take care of your whole selves. Other benefits for eligible team members include 401(k), employee discount, short term disability, long term disability, paid sick leave, paid national holidays, and paid vacation. Find competitive benefits from financial and education to well-being and beyond at https://corporate.target.com/careers/benefits.
About us:
Working at Target means helping all families discover the joy of everyday life. We bring that vision to life through our values and culture. Learn more about Target here.
As a Principal Engineer you set the strategy for software development and/or infrastructure engineering at Target. You set the direction for how software and infrastructure engineering efforts will be designed, developed, and operationalized across multiple portfolios and drives adoption across TTS. You lead and approve software and infrastructure engineering efforts to meet functional and non-functional requirements. You are a thought leader and mentor for internal and external technical talent and actively contribute to the external technical community.
Use your skills, experience and talents to be a part of groundbreaking thinking and visionary goals. As a Principal Engineer, you’ll take the lead as you…
Understand Target's business and technical environments and assist teams in resolving complex business challenges via current technical solutions by assessing viability/applicability/cost implication through POCs and prototypes. Collaborate with technical staff and Enterprise Architecture teams in setting technical direction across platform and drive technology lifecycle management and communication of standards/decisions to the engineering team. Participate in procurement specifications, installation, and maintenance of Target systems. Lead designing and building the Target platform API with deep focus on non-functional requirement including scalability, availability, performance, etc. while being a strong advocate of extreme agile and DevOps practices across engineers. Work with engineering leaders to build a high performing engineering team and provide technical leadership, coaching, motivation and participate in the selection of technical talent.
Core responsibilities of this job are described within this job description. Job duties may change at any time due to business needs.
- 4 year degree or equivalent experience. Continuing education to maintain thorough knowledge of technical domains along with staying current in latest technologies
- 12+ years of experience in technology development or services
- 4+ years of experience in strategic planning and setting technical direction
- Possesses a strong understanding of systems programming and control languages as required by your domain. Has demonstrated success in solving complex technical problems in more than one technical or functional areas
- Understands business fundamentals and how technologies can support business goals along with how to translate business vision into a technical strategy while understanding the financial implications
- Has proven leadership capabilities, the ability to influence others, interpersonal skills, and problem solving skills
- Strong team player who understands concepts of teamwork and team effectiveness.
- Has excellent verbal, written, and presentation communication skills to convey complex technical solutions clearly to an organization
- Has excellent planning and organizational skills.
- Experience in Java/ J2EE, sql/ no-sql (postgre, mongoDB, Cassandra, graph structure, etc.), Python, Ruby, Chef, Drone, Kubernetes containers, Cloud tech, etc.
Benefits Eligibility
Please paste this url into your preferred browser to learn about benefits eligibility for this role: https://tgt.biz/BenefitsForYou_FAmericans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
In compliance with state and federal laws, Target will make reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities. If a reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, please reach out to candidate.accommodations@HRHelp.Target.com. Non-accommodation-related requests, such as application follow-ups or technical issues, will not be addressed through this channel.
Application deadline is : 09/26/2026See All 282+ Remote Principal Engineer Jobs
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Find JobsRemote Principal Engineer Job Market
Who's Hiring
- CVS Health17
- Atlassian11
- Shutterfly8
- Blue River Technology7
- Jabil6
Top Industries Hiring
- Technology & Software
- Manufacturing
- Electronics & Hardware
- Consulting & Professional Services
- Insurance
What Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in remote principal engineer jobs.
- 10 or more years of software engineering experience with 3 or more years in a senior technical leadership role
- Deep expertise in distributed systems, microservices architecture, or large-scale platform design
- Proficiency in at least one primary language such as Java, Python, Go, or C++ at production scale
- Experience defining technical roadmaps, engineering standards, and cross-team architectural direction
- Strong background in cloud infrastructure on AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud including networking and reliability patterns
- Bachelor's or master's degree in computer science, software engineering, or a closely related field
Tips for Your Remote Principal Engineer Job Search
Apply early to remote roles that fit
Migrate Mate lists remote principal engineer openings from across the U.S. in one place. Search by role and apply directly to the ones that match your technical background and level without sorting through unrelated listings.
Show async leadership in your portfolio
Remote employers hiring at the principal level want proof you can lead without a whiteboard. Publish architecture decision records, design documents, or technical RFCs publicly so hiring managers can evaluate your thinking before the first call.
Target companies built for distributed engineering
Remote-first companies and teams that have operated across time zones for years hire principal engineers differently than firms experimenting with remote. Look for companies with engineering blogs, public runbooks, or documented engineering culture, which signals that async and written communication are already how they work.
Prepare for remote system design interviews
Remote principal engineer interviews frequently rely on written or async system design exercises rather than live whiteboard sessions. Practice explaining trade-offs in clear written form and be ready to walk through diagrams over video using shared tools like Miro or Excalidraw.
Remote Principal Engineer Jobs: Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get a remote principal engineer job?
Remote principal engineer roles go to candidates who can demonstrate technical leadership without in-person oversight. Remote-first companies and distributed teams screen heavily for written communication, async decision-making, and the ability to drive architecture decisions independently. Strong public work like open-source contributions, design documents, or detailed technical writing gives you a concrete edge over candidates who can only describe their work verbally.
Which companies hire remote principal engineers?
Remote principal engineer roles are posted by CVS Health, Atlassian, and Shutterfly and others right now, based on current remote listings on Migrate Mate as of September 2026. Remote-first technology companies, distributed SaaS teams, and engineering-heavy firms in fintech and cloud infrastructure tend to post the most principal engineer roles with no location requirement.
Can you get a remote principal engineer job with no experience?
Yes, but remote entry into principal-level work is harder because you're expected to self-direct from day one without a manager nearby. Remote-first startups and early-stage distributed teams are the most open to candidates who haven't held the title before. What opens the door is showing concrete evidence of technical leadership: architecture decisions you've owned, systems you've designed end-to-end, or cross-team technical work you've led.
Do you need a degree for remote principal engineer jobs?
Not always. Remote employers hiring principal engineers weigh demonstrated technical depth and leadership track over formal credentials. What matters most is whether you can show you've owned complex systems, made sound architecture calls, and communicated those decisions clearly in writing. A portfolio of real work, published design documents, or open-source contributions often carries more weight than a degree for this level of role.
Which industries hire the most remote principal engineers?
Remote principal engineer roles concentrate in Technology & Software, Manufacturing, and Electronics & Hardware, based on current remote listings on Migrate Mate as of September 2026. These sectors hire principal engineers remotely because their products are built and shipped entirely by distributed teams, making location irrelevant to the work.
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