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Principal Data Engineer Jobs in Chicago, IL (NOW HIRING)

The Job Sauce

IAA - Principal Data Engineer

Chicago, IL · On-site

$171K - $256K/yr

About the Role IAA is seeking a Principal Data Engineer to serve as the most senior individual contributor and technical authority across our data engineering function. This is a hands-on, deeply ...

Fitch Group

Principal Data Engineer

Chicago, IL · On-site

$118K - $141K/yr

Fitch Group is currently seeking a Lead/Principal Data Engineer based out of our Chicago office. As a leading, global financial information services provider, Fitch Group delivers vital credit and ...

Fitch Solutions

Principal Data Engineer

Chicago, IL · On-site

$118K - $141K/yr

Fitch Group is currently seeking a Lead/Principal Data Engineer based out of our Chicago office. As a leading, global financial information services provider, Fitch Group delivers vital credit and ...

Ritchie Bros.

Principal Software Engineer

Westchester, IL · On-site

$133K - $179K/yr

About the Role IAA is seeking a Principal Data Engineer to serve as the most senior individual contributor and technical authority across our data engineering function. This is a hands-on, deeply ...

CNA

Principal Data Engineer

Chicago, IL · On-site

Hands-on principal engineer and distinguished technology leader responsible for the strategic ... Defines and advances modernization roadmaps that simplify legacy ecosystems, improve data quality ...

Cna

Principal Data Engineer

Chicago, IL

Hands-on principal engineer and distinguished technology leader responsible for the strategic ... Defines and advances modernization roadmaps that simplify legacy ecosystems, improve data quality ...

Fitch Group

Principal Data Engineer (New York)

Chicago, IL · On-site

$118K - $141K/yr

Fitch Group is currently seeking a Lead/Principal Data Engineer based out of our New York office. As a leading, global financial information services provider, Fitch Group delivers vital credit and ...

Fitch Solutions

Principal Data Engineer (New York)

Chicago, IL · On-site

$118K - $141K/yr

Fitch Group is currently seeking a Lead/Principal Data Engineer based out of our New York office. As a leading, global financial information services provider, Fitch Group delivers vital credit and ...

Wintrust

Principal Data Architect

Rosemont, IL · On-site +1

Principal Data Architect Location: Job location -Rosemont, IL- The position is based in Rosemont ... Implement DevOps Best practices for all data integrations, participate in all types of testing ...

Wintrust

Principal Data Architect

Rosemont, IL · On-site

Principal Data Architect Location: Job location -Rosemont, IL- The position is based in Rosemont ... Implement DevOps Best practices for all data integrations, participate in all types of testing ...

AbbVie

Principal Data Scientist

Mettawa, IL · On-site

The Principal Data Scientist is the technical lead for a portfolio of advanced analytics products ... Partner with engineering and platform teams to productionalize AI/ML solutions, including ...

AbbVie

Principal Data Scientist

Mettawa, IL · On-site

The Principal Data Scientist is the technical lead for a portfolio of advanced analytics products ... Partner with engineering and platform teams to productionalize AI/ML solutions, including ...

AbbVie

Principal Data Scientist

Mettawa, IL · On-site

$124K/yr

The Principal Data Scientist is the technical lead for a portfolio of advanced analytics products ... Partner with engineering and platform teams to productionalize AI/ML solutions, including ...

AbbVie

Principal Data Scientist

Mettawa, IL · On-site

The Principal Data Scientist is the technical lead for a portfolio of advanced analytics products ... Partner with engineering and platform teams to productionalize AI/ML solutions, including ...

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All JobsPrincipal Data Engineer JobsPrincipal Data Engineer Jobs in Chicago, IL

Principal Data Engineer information

See Chicago, IL salary details

$76.2K

$151.7K

$218.9K

How much do principal data engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Sep 2, 2026, the average yearly pay for principal data engineer in Chicago, IL is $151,658.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $122,100.00 and $178,200.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a principal data engineer?

A Principal Data Engineer is a senior-level technical role responsible for designing, building, and maintaining large-scale data infrastructure. They lead data engineering teams, establish best practices, and ensure efficient data pipelines to support analytics and machine learning. This role involves working with cloud platforms, big data technologies, and distributed systems to optimize data processing. Principal Data Engineers collaborate with data scientists, analysts, and business stakeholders to drive data-driven decision-making. Their work is critical in enabling organizations to leverage data effectively for insights and innovation.

What are the typical daily responsibilities of a principal data engineer?

As a Principal Data Engineer, your day-to-day responsibilities generally include designing and optimizing large-scale data pipelines, developing architectural strategies, and overseeing the implementation of robust data solutions. You'll collaborate closely with data scientists, analysts, and software engineers to ensure the organization's data infrastructure is efficient, scalable, and secure. You may also mentor junior team members, review code, and set data engineering best practices. This role frequently requires balancing hands-on technical work with strategic planning and stakeholder communication to align data initiatives with business goals.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a principal data engineer?

To thrive as a Principal Data Engineer, you need a deep understanding of data architecture, data modeling, ETL development, and distributed computing, often supported by a degree in computer science or a related field. Proficiency with technologies such as Hadoop, Spark, Python, SQL, and cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud), as well as certifications in relevant tools or data engineering, is highly valuable. Strong leadership, problem-solving skills, and effective cross-functional communication are essential soft skills for this role. These combined abilities enable Principal Data Engineers to design scalable data solutions, drive engineering best practices, and lead complex projects to successful completion.

What are the most commonly searched types of Principal Data Engineer jobs in Chicago, IL?

The most popular types of Principal Data Engineer jobs in Chicago, IL are:

What are popular job titles related to Principal Data Engineer jobs in Chicago, IL?

For Principal Data Engineer jobs in Chicago, IL, the most frequently searched job titles are:

What job categories do people searching Principal Data Engineer jobs in Chicago, IL look for?

The top searched job categories for Principal Data Engineer jobs in Chicago, IL are:

Principal Data Engineer jobs near you
Infographic showing various Principal Data Engineer job openings in Chicago, IL as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 1% As Needed, 84% Full Time, 12% Part Time, and 3% Contract. Highlights an 87% Physical, 3% Hybrid, and 10% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $151,658 per year, or $72.9 per hour.

IAA - Principal Data Engineer

The Job Sauce

Chicago, IL • On-site

$171K - $256K/yr

Full-time

Posted 4 days ago

Job description

About the Role
IAA is seeking a Principal Data Engineer to serve as the most senior individual contributor and technical authority across our data engineering function. This is a hands-on, deeply technical leadership role for an engineer who sets architectural direction, raises the engineering bar, and personally builds the most complex and business-critical components of IAA's data platform.
Where the Director leads through people and strategy, the Principal Data Engineer leads through technical depth, influence, and execution. This person defines patterns and standards, solves the hardest data engineering problems, and acts as a force multiplier for engineers across the organization. They ensure IAA's data platform is scalable, reliable, secure, and ready to power advanced analytics, BI, forecasting, and the data needs of AI solutions.
This is a high-visibility role that partners closely with engineering leadership, data scientists, BI developers, platform/infrastructure teams, and business stakeholders across Operations, Sales, Marketing, and Product.
What You'll Do
  • Set and evolve the technical architecture for IAA's data platform - ingestion, transformation, storage, semantic modeling, and data delivery - on the Azure data and analytics stack.
  • Personally design and build the most complex, high-impact data pipelines, frameworks, and reusable components that other engineers build upon.
  • Define engineering standards and patterns across architecture, code quality, performance, scalability, observability, and governance - and drive their adoption through example and mentorship.
  • Lead the design and implementation of robust pipelines, semantic models, and data products that power dashboards, self-service analytics, forecasting, and downstream machine learning systems.
  • Build the production-grade data pipelines and feature/data infrastructure that data scientists rely on to train, serve, and operationalize models.
  • Diagnose and resolve the toughest performance, reliability, and scalability challenges across BI and data workloads (e.g., Power BI, Synapse, Fabric).
  • Drive technical strategy and execution across Microsoft Fabric, Synapse, Power BI, and broader Azure BI technologies, evaluating new tools and making build/buy recommendations.
  • Mentor and grow data engineers and analytics engineers, conducting design reviews and elevating the technical capability of the team.
  • Act as a senior technical thought partner to engineering and business leadership on data architecture, technical tradeoffs, and platform investment priorities.
  • Translate complex business problems into practical, scalable, and well-architected data solutions.
What We're Looking For
  • Extensive hands-on experience as a senior or principal-level data engineer, with a track record of designing and building production data platforms at scale.
  • Deep expertise across the Azure BI / data technology stack, including:
    • Microsoft Fabric
    • Azure Synapse Analytics
    • Power BI and semantic modeling
    • Broader Azure data and analytics services
  • Strong command of data engineering architecture, modern analytics platforms, dimensional and semantic modeling, and scalable, fault-tolerant pipelines.
  • Expert-level proficiency in Python and SQL, with strong software engineering fundamentals (testing, version control, CI/CD, modular design).
  • Working understanding of how data scientists consume data, enough to build the pipelines and feature/data infrastructure that support model training and serving.
  • Demonstrated ability to solve ambiguous, complex business problems through robust technical design and pragmatic execution.
  • Strong mentoring and influence skills - able to elevate engineering practices and lead technically without formal authority.
  • Excellent communication skills; able to explain complex technical concepts and tradeoffs to both technical and non-technical partners across Ops, Business, Sales, Marketing, Product, and Engineering.
  • Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, high-visibility environment with multiple priorities and stakeholders.
Preferred Experience
  • 12+ years experience building data platforms supporting enterprise use cases across operations, commercial functions, and product-driven organizations.
  • Experience spanning both BI modernization and data platform enablement for analytics and ML within the same platform.
  • Familiarity with cloud-native engineering practices, infrastructure-as-code, and secure, scalable data environments.
  • Experience defining platform-wide standards and reference architectures adopted across multiple teams.
  • Experience building data pipelines that support RAG, LLM, or modern AI workloads on enterprise data.

Why This Role Matters
The Principal Data Engineer is the technical anchor of IAA's data and AI capability. This person shapes how the company builds and scales its data platform - enabling better decisions, improved business performance, operational efficiencies, and a durable competitive advantage. Through architecture, hands-on engineering, and influence, this leader directly impacts both technical direction and business outcomes across the organization.
The Base Compensation for this role is $171,290 - $256,990.
This role is hybrid in Chicago with an onsite expectation of 2 days per week.

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