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Principal Application Engineer Jobs in Raleigh, NC

Principal AI Architect

Raleigh, NC · On-site

$160K - $240K/yr

Overview The Principal AI Architect is a senior technical leadership role responsible for defining ... Bachelor's Degree and 10 years of experience in Application Development, Systems Engineering, or ...

Principal AI Architect

Raleigh, NC · On-site

$160K - $240K/yr

Overview The Principal AI Architect is a senior technical leadership role responsible for defining ... Bachelor's Degree and 10 years of experience in Application Development, Systems Engineering, or ...

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Principal Application Engineer information

See Raleigh, NC salary details

$49.1K

$107.6K

$147.7K

How much do principal application engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Jun 14, 2026, the average yearly pay for principal application engineer in Raleigh, NC is $107,602.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $81,600.00 and $131,200.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What engineers make $500,000?

Principal Application Engineers, especially those with extensive experience, specialized skills, and working in high-demand industries like technology or finance, can earn $500,000 or more annually. Compensation often includes base salary, bonuses, and stock options, particularly at senior levels or in leadership roles within large companies.

What is the difference between Principal Application Engineer vs Application Engineer?

AspectPrincipal Application EngineerApplication Engineer
CredentialsBachelor's or Master's in Engineering, often with specialized certificationsBachelor's degree in Engineering or related field
Work EnvironmentLead technical projects, mentor teams, and develop strategic solutionsImplement and support applications, troubleshoot issues, and assist clients
Industry UsageUsed in tech, manufacturing, and software companies for senior technical rolesCommon in software, hardware, and engineering firms for entry to mid-level roles

The Principal Application Engineer typically holds a senior, strategic role with leadership responsibilities, while the Application Engineer focuses on technical support and implementation. Both roles require strong engineering credentials, but the Principal position involves more oversight and project management.

How much do principal engineers get paid?

Principal application engineers typically earn between $120,000 and $180,000 annually, depending on experience, location, and industry. Seniority, specialized skills, and certifications can also influence compensation levels.

What engineers make $300,000 a year?

Principal Application Engineers and senior software engineers with extensive experience, specialized skills, and often advanced certifications can earn $300,000 or more annually. High compensation typically reflects leadership responsibilities, expertise in areas like cloud computing or AI, and working in competitive industries or companies with lucrative benefits.

What does a principal Application Engineer do?

A Principal Application Engineer leads the design, development, and implementation of software applications, often overseeing technical teams and ensuring project goals are met. They typically possess advanced technical skills, experience with programming languages and development tools, and may be involved in system architecture, troubleshooting, and client communication.
What are popular job titles related to Principal Application Engineer jobs in Raleigh, NC? For Principal Application Engineer jobs in Raleigh, NC, the most frequently searched job titles are:
What job categories do people searching Principal Application Engineer jobs in Raleigh, NC look for? The top searched job categories for Principal Application Engineer jobs in Raleigh, NC are:
What cities near Raleigh, NC are hiring for Principal Application Engineer jobs? Cities near Raleigh, NC with the most Principal Application Engineer job openings:
Infographic showing various Principal Application Engineer job openings in Raleigh, NC as of June 2026, with employment types broken down into 82% Full Time, and 18% Part Time. Highlights an 87% Physical, 5% Hybrid, and 8% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $107,602 per year, or $51.7 per hour.

Principal Software Engineer/Developer

Fidelity Investments

Durham, NC • On-site

Full-time

Posted 15 days ago


Fidelity Investments rating

8.7

Company rating: 8.7 out of 10

Based on 264 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

14th of 138 rated financial services


Job description

Job Description:
Position Description:
Designs, develops, and maintains scalable, high performance, and user-friendly applications, using Java, Spring, Spring Boot, Angular, TypeScript, JavaScript, HTML, and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). Delivers system automation by setting up Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) pipelines in DevOps. Develops highly scalable distributed systems using Amazon Web Services (AWS) services including EC2, Lambda, S3, Kinesis, SNS, SQS, ECS, Cloud Formation, and Cloud Security. Uses business knowledge to translate the vision for divisional initiatives into business solutions by developing complex or multiple software applications and conducting studies of alternatives. Analyzes and recommends changes in project development policies, procedures, standards, and strategies to development experts and management.
Primary Responsibilities:
  • Participates in architecture design teams.
  • Defines and implements application level architecture.
  • Develops applications on complex projects, components, and subsystems for the division.
  • Recommends development testing tools and methodologies and reviews and validates test plans.
  • Responsible for QA readiness of software deliverables.
  • Develops comprehensive documentation for multiple applications or subsystems.
  • Establishes full project life cycle plans for complex projects across multiple platforms.
  • Responsible for meeting project goals on-time and on-budget.
  • Advises on risk assessment and risk management strategies for projects.
  • Plans and coordinates project schedules and assignments for multiple projects.
  • Acts as a primary liaison for business units to resolve various project/technology issues.
  • Provides technology solutions to daily issues and technical evaluation estimates on technology initiatives.
  • Advises senior management on technical strategy.
  • Mentors junior team members.
  • Performs independent and complex technical and functional analysis for multiple projects supporting several divisional initiatives.
  • Develops original and creative technical solutions to on-going development efforts.

Education and Experience:
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, Information Systems, Business Administration, or a closely related field (or foreign education equivalent) and five (5) years of experience as a Principal Software Engineer/Developer (or closely related occupation) developing and configuring Web applications using Java, Spring, Kafka, and REST in a financial services environment.
Or, alternatively, Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, Information Systems, Business Administration, or a closely related field (or foreign education equivalent) and three (3) years of experience as a Principal Software Engineer/Developer (or closely related occupation) developing and configuring Web applications using Java, Spring, Kafka, and REST in a financial services environment.
Skills and Knowledge:
Candidate must also possess:
  • Demonstrated Expertise ("DE") processing and extracting data from Kafka Streaming; building CI/CD pipelines for Terra Core infrastructure; processing real-time data streams from Apache Kafka topics using Kafka Streams API; and extracting streaming data from Kafka brokers using Kafka Connect framework with custom connectors within Kubernetes environments to integrate with databases.
  • DE processing messages in Java Messaging Service (JMS), JMS Server, and Distributed Queues and Topics, using TIBCO EMS; designing and implementing Infrastructure as Code (IaC) pipelines using Terraform; and automating provisioning, configuration, and deployment of scalable infrastructure components, using Jenkins within multi-cloud environments (AWS, Azure, and GCP).
  • DE processing, validating, parsing, and extracting data from Extensible Markup Language (XML) -- using Document Object Model (DOM) and Simple API for XML (SAX) parsers -- for Document Type Definition (DTD) and Schema, using XMLSpy.
  • DE applying DevOps principles throughout the software development life cycle (SDLC) -- performing continuous integration (using Jenkins), continuous deployments (using IBM uDeploy), code scan (using Sonar) for Web applications, and identifying performance bottlenecks (using JProfiler); and providing solution improvements for Web applications using AWS.

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Certifications:
Category:
Information Technology
Please be advised that Fidelity's business is governed by the provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, the Investment Company Act of 1940, ERISA, numerous state laws governing securities, investment and retirement-related financial activities and the rules and regulations of numerous self-regulatory organizations, including FINRA, among others. Those laws and regulations may restrict Fidelity from hiring and/or associating with individuals with certain Criminal Histories.

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