Explore Principal Software Engineer jobs for experienced technologists ready to shape architecture, guide engineering teams, and solve complex technical challenges. Ladders features vetted professional opportunities with salaries of $100,000 or more, helping you find senior roles that match your expertise and career goals.
Principal Software Engineers provide technical leadership across products, platforms, or engineering organizations. They design scalable systems, establish engineering standards, evaluate architectural tradeoffs, and partner with product, security, and operations teams. Depending on the organization, the role may involve mentoring engineers and influencing roadmaps without direct people-management responsibilities.
Employers commonly seek deep software development experience, strong system design and architecture skills, and expertise in one or more programming languages or technology domains. Successful candidates communicate clearly, make sound decisions amid ambiguity, and build alignment across teams. Experience with cloud infrastructure, distributed systems, reliability, security, or data platforms may be valuable depending on the role.
Principal-level positions are available across industries, including technology, finance, healthcare, retail, and business services. Compensation varies by employer, location, scope, and specialization. Browse Ladders for vetted opportunities paying $100,000 or more, and review each listing for its stated salary range, responsibilities, and requirements.
Use Ladders to discover senior engineering opportunities aligned with your experience. Compare roles by industry, location, and technical focus, then tailor your application to highlight measurable impact, architectural leadership, and the systems you have helped deliver.
$120K - $145K *
Elevate the performance and reliability of our AI-native platform by managing infrastructure, CI/CD processes, and user experience. Shape tooling to boost developer efficiency and ensure a stable, fas...
Reposted 3 weeks ago
$120K - $145K *
Innovate with us as a Senior Software Engineer, driving core feature development and automation across the stack. Collaborate with diverse teams to enhance scalability and performance in a dynamic, mi...
Reposted 6 days ago
$135K - $160K *
Drive your career with a Senior Site Reliability Engineer role focused on building secure AWS GovCloud foundations for FedRAMP High and IL5, ensuring compliance and operational excellence while mentor...
Yesterday
Lead Software Engineer (Remote)
$126K - $157K *
Drive your career forward by leading complex software projects, collaborating with diverse teams, and leveraging cutting-edge technologies to deliver high-quality solutions that meet client needs and...
Today
Senior Software Engineer - Open Source (RD217)
$148K - $201K *
Empower the development of our open source software solutions while collaborating with engineers and community contributors. Leverage your cloud native expertise to enhance mission outcomes through in...
Reposted 3 days ago
Senior Colleague Modernization Engineer
$120K - $145K *
Innovate your career by leading SaaS modernization projects, enhancing delivery efficiency through AI and automation. Drive customer success by transforming legacy systems into scalable, sustainable s...
3 weeks ago
Senior Software Engineer, Virtual Care Platform
$115K - $130K *
Explore opportunities as a Senior Software Engineer driving our Virtual Care Platform, ensuring operational excellence and enhancing patient experiences through effective troubleshooting, automation...
3 weeks ago
Senior Engineer, Agentic Engineering Governance, Open Source
$153K - $166K *
Join a team that's shaping the future of AI governance in software development. As a Senior Engineer, you'll design policies and tools that ensure safe, effective use of AI coding agents, empowering d...
6 days ago
Staff Software Engineer, Infrastructure
$100K - $300K *
Transform the infrastructure for AI applications, enabling seamless app development, hosting, and integration. Drive innovation in a dynamic environment, impacting thousands of users with scalable, re...
2 weeks ago
Principal Software Engineer, Team Lead - Perception Platforms
$240K - $330K *
Join a team that's shaping the future of machine learning by leading a high-performing group dedicated to optimizing data pipelines and enhancing perception modeling. Drive innovation and collaboratio...
3 days ago
Staff Software Engineer | Platform Team
$225K - $260K *
Lead the charge in enhancing our platform's foundation. Tackle complex systems, improve developer tooling, and drive AI tool adoption to elevate engineering practices and platform performance across a...
Reposted 3 weeks ago
$169K - $185K *
Champion the design and delivery of integrations and APIs, collaborating with cross-functional teams to create secure, scalable, and user-friendly developer experiences that drive business impact and...
Today
$140K - $150K *
Join a team that's shaping the future of cloud-based applications. Collaborate across diverse technology stacks to design, build, and enhance software solutions while embracing AI-assisted development...
3 weeks ago
Senior Software Engineer II - LLM Observability
$183K - $206K *
Transform AI observability by developing end-to-end capabilities, architecting data models, and collaborating with cross-functional teams to enhance user workflows and insights into agent performance...
1 week ago
$160K - $200K *
Drive innovation by designing and developing scalable backend services, collaborating closely with engineering teams to enhance platform performance and reliability while mentoring junior developers a...
1 week ago
Staff Software Engineer in Test, Compiler & Systems Validation
$135K - $160K *
Oversee quality engineering initiatives by enhancing validation practices, establishing scalable strategies, and improving release evidence in collaboration with cross-functional teams to ensure robus...
2 weeks ago
Principal Software Engineer, Developer Compute Platform
$248K - $391K *
Shape the future of cloud-hosted compute environments by leading the architecture and development of AI agent platforms. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver high-performance solutions a...
3 days ago
Senior Software Engineer II - LLM Observability
$250K - $280K *
Empower the development of AI observability capabilities, architecting data models and infrastructure while collaborating with cross-functional teams to enhance user workflows and insights into AI sys...
6 days ago
Principal Software Engineer, Retail and CPG Platform Architecture
$240K - $379K *
Shape the future of retail technology by architecting and developing a cutting-edge Retail and CPG platform using AI solutions, collaborating with top engineering teams to drive innovation and efficie...
Reposted 3 weeks ago
$165K - $185K *
Shape the future of advertising technology by leading the design and strategy for scalable, reliable systems that enhance live sports experiences. Collaborate across teams to drive innovation and ment...
2 weeks ago
Sr./Staff/Principal Software Engineer (Frontend/Fullstack)
$120K - $180K *
Transform user experiences by developing innovative web applications with cutting-edge technologies. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to create exceptional battery analytics software for leadin...
3 weeks ago
Lead Specialist, Solution Architect
$150K - $160K *
Design innovative solutions for a secure online proctored testing platform, guiding engineering teams in modernizing architecture and ensuring scalable, reliable delivery while enhancing candidate and...
1 week ago
$200K - $300K *
Contribute to the technical direction and architectural excellence by leading large-scale initiatives, mentoring engineers, and collaborating cross-functionally to deliver high-impact software solutio...
Reposted 1 week ago
$130K - $160K *
Empower your career by leading cross-functional initiatives that define and execute product strategies. Cultivate senior talent while driving clarity in vision and achieving impactful results across d...
4 weeks ago
Senior Backend Software Engineer
$144K - $189K *
Join a team that's driving complex projects from design to launch, tackling architecture challenges and mentoring engineers. Collaborate across teams to implement scalable solutions while ensuring cod...
3 days ago
What does a Principal Software Engineer do?
A Principal Software Engineer leads technical direction across significant systems or teams, making architecture decisions, solving complex engineering problems, and helping establish standards. The role is often an individual-contributor position, though responsibilities differ by company.
What qualifications are needed for Principal Software Engineer jobs?
Employers typically look for extensive software engineering experience, advanced system design skills, proficiency in relevant technologies, and a record of delivering reliable, scalable systems. Communication, mentoring, and cross-functional influence are also commonly important.
How much do Principal Software Engineers earn?
Pay varies based on location, industry, employer, specialization, and role scope. Ladders focuses on vetted professional jobs paying $100,000 or more; check individual listings for compensation details.
Are Principal Software Engineer roles management positions?
Not necessarily. Many Principal Software Engineers are senior individual contributors who influence technical strategy and mentor colleagues without managing direct reports. Some companies combine technical leadership with management duties.
Where can I find Principal Software Engineer jobs paying $100,000 or more?
Browse Principal Software Engineer listings on Ladders to explore vetted opportunities with salaries of $100,000 or more and compare roles by their requirements, responsibilities, and location.