Principal engineer jobs

• AI Principal Engineer

  Ladders · Remote Solely

  USD 192k–240k

  10+ yrs

  14d ago

• Principal Engineer - Design for Test

  Microchip Technology Inc. · Chandler, AZ, United States · On-site

  10+ yrs

  29d ago

• Principal Engineer, Ground System Software (R5199)

  Shield AI · On-site

  USD 220k–330k

  10+ yrs

  1mo ago

• Principal Engineer

  City of Albuquerque · On-site

  5-10 yrs

  1mo ago

• Principal Engineer, Backend

  nemetschek · Remote OK

  USD 183k–251k

  10+ yrs

  1mo ago

• Principal Engineer (Rust)

  Zartis · Remote Solely

  10+ yrs

  3mo ago

About these roles

Principal is a scope band, not a title progression — companies that hire externally at principal are looking for someone who has already operated as the technical owner of a product surface or a domain that crosses team boundaries. Expect 10-15 years of experience, demonstrable history of setting direction (not just executing it), and the ability to be the most senior engineer in a multi-team architecture room. Compensation lands $300-475k total in US metros at scale-ups, £180-275k in London, with foundation-model labs and quant funds pushing $500k+ for the right hire. Process is heavier and slower: 5-7 rounds typically, often including a take-home architectural review, a system-design deep-dive on something you've actually built, and references checked carefully. Remote is more available at this tier than at staff because the pool is small enough that geography becomes the binding constraint.