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.
Member of Technical Staff, Engineering
$110K - $130K *
Join a team that's redefining theoretical physics through innovative AI tools. Collaborate to develop groundbreaking technology solutions that enhance research, streamline processes, and drive scienti...
Reposted 2 weeks ago
Member of Technical Staff, Engineering
$110K - $130K *
Join a team that's revolutionizing theoretical physics through innovative tech development. Contribute to creating the AI Physicist, enhancing research capabilities with cutting-edge tools and algorit...
4 weeks ago
Staff Software Engineer - AI Discovery & Posture
$135K - $160K *
Lead the charge in building AI agent discovery across cloud platforms and endpoints. Develop security assessments for AI agents that enhance the overall governance within our AI security framework, re...
Reposted 1 week ago
$125K - $150K *
Empower a high-performing engineering team to build and deliver innovative software solutions. Lead architecture decisions, ensure code quality, and enhance production health while cultivating team gr...
1 month ago
Staff Software Engineer, Developer Experience
$193K - $309K *
Pioneer innovative developer experiences by setting technical direction and enhancing workflows. Collaborate across teams to design solutions that empower engineers, leveraging AI to redefine software...
1 week ago
Principal / Senior Staff Backend Engineer
$200K - $250K *
Innovate and shape the technical strategy for a cutting-edge exchange platform. Lead high-impact initiatives, mentor engineers, and drive architectural decisions in a regulated environment to enhance...
Today
Software Engineer (Full Stack)
$120K - $200K *
Unlock potential by joining our engineering team to build high-performance, user-facing trading products. Shape the future of real-time web applications while collaborating across the stack to deliver...
4 weeks ago
$120K - $170K *
Transform enterprise software systems by leading design and development efforts, ensuring scalable, secure applications that meet federal mission needs while mentoring engineers and driving best pract...
Yesterday
Senior Software Engineer, Frontend
$145K - $195K *
Engage in developing high-performance frontend solutions for a pioneering CAD modeling app. Collaborate extensively with backend teams to create integral code-driven functionalities, ensuring a superi...
Reposted 1 week ago
Senior Machine learning Engineer
$162K - $258K *
Drive the design and implementation of cutting-edge GenAI solutions, leading the development of LLM capabilities and ML pipelines to enhance insurance workflows and deliver impactful outcomes for cust...
Today
$125K - $150K *
Build essential infrastructure and tooling for scalable fintech solutions, empowering product engineers in a regulated environment while enhancing CI/CD processes and observability to support real-tim...
Reposted 3 weeks ago
Senior Manager, Technical Program Management
$135K - $160K *
Lead the charge in shaping a new Technical Program Management team, guiding TPMs to deliver impactful results while fostering collaboration across Engineering and Product. Drive strategic planning and...
1 week ago
$125K - $150K *
Unlock potential by leading full stack development for e-commerce and consumer apps. Collaborate across teams to innovate with AI, ensuring quality and performance while mentoring engineers and shapin...
3 days ago
$81K *
Manage and enhance public health technology platforms, ensuring secure, reliable operations for local, state, and federal agencies. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to optimize system performan...
3 days ago
$150K - $180K *
Champion the development of an AI platform by leading a team to architect and build essential systems for AI-driven applications, ensuring reliability and scalability while collaborating with cross-fu...
2 weeks ago
Software Engineer III Team Lead
$110K - $130K *
Join a team that's dedicated to innovation and excellence in software development. As a Software Engineering Team Lead, you'll guide a talented group, ensuring high-quality product delivery while fost...
2 weeks ago
Senior Software Engineer II, Ads Data Solutions Engineering
$192K - $202K *
Lead the technical roadmap and modernize data solutions infrastructure, enhancing off-platform integrations and measurement capabilities while driving AI-first engineering initiatives and cross-team c...
1 week ago
Senior Software Engineer (Secret Clearance Eligible)
$160K - $200K *
Drive the development of cutting-edge AI systems by leveraging your expertise in Go and Python. Collaborate cross-functionally to optimize and refine scalable services, ensuring high performance and u...
Today
Principal Full Stack Software Engineer - Vancouver, Canada
$172K - $225K *
Champion innovative solutions and elevate our engineering teams' capabilities by mentoring and guiding strategic product developments, enhancing performance, and ensuring customer satisfaction through...
3 weeks ago
Principal Cloud Engineer - AI Platform
$175K - $250K *
Shape the cloud infrastructure for AI agents, ensuring secure, scalable solutions that enhance customer workflows. Lead architectural decisions, establish standards, and drive innovation in a dynamic...
1 week ago
$150K - $185K *
Lead cross-functional teams to drive excellence in software development for a SaaS platform, ensuring timely delivery and high-quality outcomes while fostering a collaborative engineering culture. Inn...
Reposted 6 days ago
Senior Database Platform Engineer
$130K - $155K *
Empower business innovation by architecting and automating robust database platforms. Collaborate across teams to enhance data provisioning, security, and performance, ensuring scalable solutions that...
3 weeks ago
$120K - $145K *
Join a dynamic team as you lead engineers in delivering high-quality technology. Drive performance, resource planning, and best practices across the SDLC while fostering a culture of collaboration and...
2 days ago
$120K - $150K *
Drive product vision and growth at the intersection of AI and science. Leverage strategic and technical expertise to define, prioritize, and enhance cutting-edge product capabilities while collaborati...
Reposted 3 weeks ago
$110K - $130K *
Engineer secure, scalable cloud platforms and automate workflows. Lead migrations, implement observability, and mentor junior engineers while driving cloud-native adoption in a collaborative environme...
2 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.