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.
Senior Engineering Manager - Client Group
$230K - $250K *
Innovate with us to lead a talented engineering team, driving technical strategy and cross-functional collaboration. Shape impactful systems in billing and enrollment while fostering a culture of owne...
Today
Staff Software Engineer, Developer Ecosystem
$217K - $303K *
Lead the charge in shaping the future of our developer platform. Collaborate across backend, platform, and full-stack systems to enhance developer experiences and drive innovation in app development...
Reposted 2 weeks ago
$110K - $130K *
Elevate incident response capabilities by developing dashboards and alerts, optimizing cloud performance, and ensuring security compliance. Collaborate with product teams to enhance IAM needs while dr...
Yesterday
Senior Software Engineer, NeMo Helix Core Platform
$184K - $356K *
Engage in cutting-edge AI innovation by leading the development of an open-source, plugin-based platform that enhances agent optimization and efficiency for scalable AI systems. Drive technical leader...
Reposted 2 weeks ago
Senior Software Engineer, NeMo Helix Core Platform
$170K - $275K *
Champion the development of advanced AI systems by designing and optimizing a flexible Agent Execution framework that integrates seamlessly with various compute environments, empowering teams to condu...
Reposted 1 week ago
Lead Software Engineer, Plan Intelligence
$155K - $207K *
Lead the design and development of innovative software solutions, collaborating with cross-functional teams to deliver high-quality applications. Drive technical excellence and mentor engineers while...
1 week ago
$100K - $120K *
Join a team that's dedicated to enhancing healthcare technology by developing and maintaining our Electronic Health Record platform using Ruby. Collaborate in an agile environment to deliver impactful...
3 days ago
$135K - $150K *
Champion innovation by enhancing our cloud infrastructure and automating operations. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to drive AI-powered solutions and ensure software reliability in a dynamic...
3 weeks ago
$125K - $140K *
Optimize user experiences by crafting seamless flows, building APIs, and integrating third-party software. Collaborate with teams to design robust systems and deliver elegant solutions while ensuring...
2 weeks ago
Software Engineer, API Platform
$148K - $190K *
Build and enhance our internal API layer, ensuring reliability and performance for services. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to implement API contracts and improve developer experience while m...
2 weeks ago
Engineering Manager - Servicing & Fulfillment
$166K - $193K *
Lead and mentor a team of engineers while overseeing technical excellence and driving AI innovation in operational systems. Collaborate cross-functionally to deliver impactful features for post-purcha...
Reposted 3 weeks ago
Senior Software Engineer (Remote Sensing)
$155K - $185K *
Join a growing aerospace organization to design and develop backend software for remote sensing systems, influencing the entire operational structure through autonomous project ownership and collabora...
3 weeks ago
$110K - $160K *
Lead day-to-day reliability for our SRE-DevOps team, ensuring production AWS environments are secure and well-documented. Collaborate on automation, incident response, and compliance while working ind...
1 week ago
Software Engineering Team Manager
$125K - $150K *
Transform the engineering landscape by leading modernization efforts for a data platform, ensuring reliability and security while integrating AI capabilities. Drive team performance and quality standa...
Reposted 3 days ago
Software Engineer II, Marketplace Optimization
$142K - $196K *
Innovate and optimize scalable backend systems that drive efficient marketplace decisioning and monetization strategies. Collaborate across teams to enhance user experiences and leverage cutting-edge...
Reposted 2 days ago
Manager, Software Engineering - Remote
$110K - $130K *
Lead and inspire a dynamic team in delivering high-quality Pega projects. Oversee project execution, foster continuous improvement, and ensure alignment with business goals while mentoring team member...
Yesterday
Senior Software Engineer - 26402
$110K - $165K *
Join a team that's shaping the future of energy distribution tools. Leverage your software engineering expertise to develop, enhance, and integrate solutions while mentoring junior developers and coll...
1 week ago
Senior Staff Engineer - Senior Data Modeler
$120K - $145K *
Optimize data governance by collaborating with stakeholders to establish definitions and standards across multiple business domains while enhancing data management processes for improved accuracy and...
3 weeks ago
Senior Creative Program Manager
$115K - $175K *
Lead the creative program management efforts, ensuring timely delivery of high-quality projects across various marketing initiatives. Drive process improvements and foster collaboration within a dynam...
1 week ago
$114K - $252K *
Lead the charge in architecting and implementing a cutting-edge AI platform for federal oversight, driving innovation with technical leadership and ensuring security and compliance across complex clou...
Reposted 2 weeks ago
$120K - $140K *
Transform enterprise application environments by leading upgrades and enhancements. Collaborate on complex integration projects, ensuring compatibility and performance across multiple platforms while...
4 weeks ago
$120K - $145K *
Transform software solutions by leading development efforts and enhancing Enterprise Content Management applications. Collaborate on diverse projects, ensuring system compatibility and delivering inno...
4 weeks ago
$130K - $155K *
Lead the charge in ensuring operational stability and incident management across multi-cloud environments. Drive automation and observability improvements while collaborating with cross-functional tea...
1 week ago
$125K - $150K *
Transform complex Naval engineering records into actionable AI solutions. As a Senior Platform Engineer, you'll lead platform engineering efforts, ensuring seamless application deployment and operatio...
1 week ago
$124K - $196K *
Optimize backend systems by building REST APIs, enhancing integrations, and ensuring reliability. Collaborate with teams to develop CI/CD pipelines and monitor services, all while working remotely wit...
2 weeks 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.