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Principal Engineer Jobs in Seattle, WA (NOW HIRING)

Snowflake

Principal Engineer

Bellevue, WA · On-site

$250K - $380K/yr

As Principal Engineer for the Streamlit in Snowflake team, you will be the top technical voice shaping how millions of users build and deploy apps on Snowflake's data platform. This role requires a ...

Skydance

Principal Engineer

Seattle, WA · Remote

$217K - $246K/yr

The Principal Engineer plays a critical role in driving innovation and ensuring that the organization stays at the forefront of technology trends. This role does not manage or have direct reports or ...

Skydance

Principal Engineer

Seattle, WA · Hybrid

$217K - $246K/yr

The Principal Engineer plays a critical role in driving innovation and ensuring that the organization stays at the forefront of technology trends. This role does not manage or have direct reports or ...

Slrconsulting

Principal Engineer

Bothell, WA · On-site

$130K - $160K/yr

As our new Principal Scientist/Engineer/Geologist - Growth & Practice Leadership , you will play an important role on a team whose work is essential to achieving this goal. Role Many talented ...

Atlassian

Principal Engineer

Seattle, WA · On-site +1

About This Role As a Principal Engineer on the AI & ML Platform team, you will play a pivotal role in developing and refining the core infrastructure that empowers all Atlassian software engineers ...

New

Atlassian

Principal Engineer

Seattle, WA · On-site +1

About This Role As a Principal Engineer on the AI & ML Platform team, you will play a pivotal role in developing and refining the core infrastructure that empowers all Atlassian software engineers ...

New

Atlassian

Principal Engineer

Seattle, WA · On-site +1

About This Role As a Principal Engineer on the AI & ML Platform team, you will play a pivotal role in developing and refining the core infrastructure that empowers all Atlassian software engineers ...

New

Databricks

Principal Engineer - Privacy

Seattle, WA · On-site

The Principal Engineer - Privacy will enhance security for customers by identifying vulnerabilities in infrastructure and services, attract top talent, and represent the security engineering ...

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Showing results 1-20

All JobsPrincipal Engineer JobsPrincipal Engineer Jobs in Seattle, WA

Principal Engineer information

See Seattle, WA salary details

$84.3K

$167.6K

$242K

How much do principal engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Aug 4, 2026, the average yearly pay for principal engineer in Seattle, WA is $167,635.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $134,900.00 and $197,000.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a principal engineer?

A principal engineer oversees the research, development, and design of engineering projects for a company or organization. These engineering experts are leaders in their industries and need an advanced understanding of their discipline to manage projects and guide team members. As a principal engineer, your job duties include creating budgets, negotiating with vendors, and delegating work. You may also train staff members, set project deadlines, and work to improve engineering application processes.

What is the difference between Principal Engineer vs Senior Engineer?

AspectPrincipal EngineerSenior Engineer
CredentialsTypically requires 8+ years of experience, advanced technical skills, and often leadership or mentorship experienceUsually requires 3-7 years of experience with strong technical skills
Work EnvironmentLeads complex projects, influences technical strategy, collaborates across teamsFocuses on executing technical tasks, supporting project development, and mentoring junior staff
Employer & Industry UsageCommon in large tech companies, engineering firms, and organizations with advanced technical hierarchiesWidely used across industries for experienced technical contributors

The main difference between a Principal Engineer and a Senior Engineer lies in their level of responsibility, experience, and influence. Principal Engineers typically lead complex projects and shape technical strategies, while Senior Engineers focus on executing technical tasks and supporting team efforts. Both roles require strong technical skills, but Principal Engineers often have more leadership and strategic responsibilities.

How much do principal engineers get paid?

Principal engineers typically earn between $120,000 and $180,000 annually, depending on experience, industry, and location. They often have advanced technical skills, leadership responsibilities, and may receive bonuses or stock options as part of their compensation package.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a principal engineer, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Principal Engineer, you need deep technical expertise in your engineering discipline, strong problem-solving abilities, and typically an advanced degree or equivalent experience. Familiarity with complex software development tools, architectural frameworks, and industry certifications like AWS Certified Solutions Architect or relevant PE licenses is common. Exceptional leadership, communication, and mentorship skills help Principal Engineers guide teams and influence project direction. These competencies are essential for driving innovation, ensuring technical excellence, and delivering large-scale, high-impact solutions.

How does a principal engineer typically collaborate with cross-functional teams to drive project success?

Principal Engineers play a key role in collaborating with cross-functional teams, such as product management, design, and operations, to ensure technical solutions align with business objectives. They often lead architectural discussions, mentor team members, and facilitate communication between engineering and non-engineering stakeholders. This collaboration helps identify potential challenges early, streamline development processes, and deliver high-quality products. Additionally, Principal Engineers are often involved in setting technical standards and guiding teams through complex problem-solving.
More about Principal Engineer jobs
What are the most commonly searched types of Principal Engineer jobs in Seattle, WA? The most popular types of Principal Engineer jobs in Seattle, WA are:
What are popular job titles related to Principal Engineer jobs in Seattle, WA? For Principal Engineer jobs in Seattle, WA, the most frequently searched job titles are:
What job categories do people searching Principal Engineer jobs in Seattle, WA look for? The top searched job categories for Principal Engineer jobs in Seattle, WA are:
Principal Engineer jobs near you
Infographic showing various Principal Engineer job openings in Seattle, WA as of July 2026, with employment types broken down into 89% Full Time, 7% Part Time, 1% Temporary, and 3% Contract. Highlights an 86% Physical, 5% Hybrid, and 9% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $167,635 per year, or $80.6 per hour.

Principal Engineer

Snowflake

Bellevue, WA • On-site

$250K - $380K/yr

Full-time

Re-posted 19 days ago

Job description

At Snowflake, we are powering the era of the agentic enterprise. To usher in this new era, we seek AI-native thinkers across every function who are energized by the opportunity to reinvent how they work. You don't just use tools; you possess an innate curiosity, treating AI as a high-trust collaborator that is core to how you solve problems and accelerate your impact. We look for low-ego individuals who thrive in dynamic and fast-moving environments and move with an experimental mindset - who rapidly test emerging capabilities to discover simpler, more powerful ways to deliver results. At Snowflake, your role isn't just to execute a function, but to help redefine the future of how work gets done.
Streamlit in Snowflake (SiS) is our flagship app development platform, enabling data engineers, analysts, and developers to build and deploy interactive, data-driven applications directly within Snowflake. As Principal Engineer for the Streamlit in Snowflake team, you will be the top technical voice shaping how millions of users build and deploy apps on Snowflake's data platform.
This role requires a rare combination: deep hands-on engineering expertise in Python/container runtimes, a systems architect's instinct for platform design, and the organizational influence to drive cross-team programs. You will define how SiS evolves from its container-native SPCS runtime and embedding/iframe SDK, to its developer experience, performance at scale, and integration with Snowflake's broader AI and data ecosystem.
AS THE PRINCIPAL ENGINEER FOR STREAMLIT IN SNOWFLAKE YOU WILL:
  • Define and own the architectural vision for the SiS platform spanning the SPCS container runtime, the warehouse runtime, the embedding SDK, developer tooling, and the Snowsight integration layer.
  • Drive the platform's evolution toward its next-generation capabilities building on publicly shipping features like chromeless viewer URLs and IdP integration, and shaping the architectural direction for areas still in development.
  • Serve as the primary technical representative for SiS in company-wide architecture forums, shaping Snowflake's broader app platform strategy.
  • Establish engineering standards for performance, reliability, and scale ensuring SiS can handle many concurrent users with fast startup times and high availability.
  • Lead the technical design and review process for high-stakes, cross-functional initiatives: working closely with infrastructure, Snowsight, Cortex/AI, security, and the open-source Streamlit project.
  • Be a strong hands-on contributor by authoring specs, implementing changes, reviewing PRs, and setting a high bar for code quality, API design, and system architecture.
  • Mentor and grow senior engineers on the team; identify and incubate the next generation of technical leaders. Level up the team through your example and high standards and knowledge sharing.
  • Partner with Product and Design to drive the roadmap and translate customer needs (performance, scale, OSS parity) into robust engineering solutions.
  • Advocate for SiS developers and end users by balancing the developer experience of Python engineers with the scalability needs of enterprise customers embedding Streamlit.

OUR IDEAL PRINCIPAL ENGINEER WILL HAVE:
  • 15+ years of software engineering experience, with a demonstrated track record of architecting and shipping production-grade developer platforms or application runtimes.
  • Strong expertise in Python application runtimes, server-side frameworks, and distributed execution environments with a deep understanding of performance, reliability, and lifecycle management at scale.
  • Strong understanding of container-based execution environments (Docker, Kubernetes, SPCS or similar) and the performance/reliability tradeoffs they introduce.
  • Hands-on experience designing and evolving developer-facing SDKs, embedding APIs, or component libraries including thoughtful API versioning and backward compatibility.
  • Demonstrated ability to lead technical programs that span multiple teams and organizational boundaries driving clarity, alignment, and accountability without direct authority.
  • Experience with enterprise SaaS reliability requirements: multi-tenancy, scale, security review processes, and graceful migrations.
  • Familiarity with the open-source Streamlit framework or similar Python-based app frameworks is a strong plus.
  • Experience working with IdP integrations, OAuth flows, or authentication systems for embedded/public-facing web applications is a plus.
  • (nice to have) Familiarity with the web platform (TypeScript/JavaScript, browser APIs, WebSockets, service workers, iframe/cross-origin security models) particularly as it relates to how Python-backed apps are served and embedded in the browser

WHY JOIN THE STREAMLIT IN SNOWFLAKE TEAM AT SNOWFLAKE?
Streamlit is one of the most loved developer tools in the data ecosystem and Streamlit in Snowflake is how we bring that experience to millions of enterprise users at scale. As a member of this team, you will:
  • Shape the future of data app development determining how the next generation of SiS runs, scales, and integrates with Snowflake's AI and data platform.
  • Solve genuinely hard problems at the intersection of distributed systems, web platform engineering, and developer experience from sub-second cold starts to embedding apps inside third-party products.
  • Work alongside the core Streamlit open-source contributors and influence the direction of one of the fastest-growing Python frameworks.
  • Join a tight-knit, high-ownership engineering team that has shipped SiS vNext from private preview to GA and is now building the features that will define the next chapter of the product.
  • Be part of a company that combines the resources and reach of a market leader with a decisive, ship-it-today engineering culture.

Snowflake is growing fast, and we're scaling our team to help enable and accelerate our growth. We are looking for people who share our values, challenge ordinary thinking, and push the pace of innovation while building a future for themselves and Snowflake.
How do you want to make your impact?
For jobs located in the United States, please visit the job posting on the Snowflake Careers Site for salary and benefits information: careers.snowflake.com

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