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Principal Platform Engineer Jobs (NOW HIRING)

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Principal Platform Engineer information

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$74K

$147.2K

$212.5K

How much do principal platform engineer jobs pay per year?

As of May 29, 2026, the average yearly pay for principal platform engineer in the United States is $147,220.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $118,500.00 and $173,000.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a Principal Platform Engineer job?

A Principal Platform Engineer is a senior-level technical leader responsible for designing, building, and optimizing scalable platform infrastructure. They collaborate with engineering teams to ensure reliability, security, and efficiency while driving best practices in automation, cloud services, and DevOps. This role often involves strategic decision-making, mentorship, and implementing new technologies to enhance system performance.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive in the Principal Platform Engineer position, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Principal Platform Engineer, you need expert knowledge in systems architecture, cloud infrastructure, and strong programming abilities, usually supported by a computer science degree and several years of platform engineering experience. Familiarity with tools such as Kubernetes, Docker, Terraform, and cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, or GCP is common, along with relevant certifications (e.g., AWS Certified Solutions Architect). Exceptional leadership, strategic thinking, and effective communication set top performers apart in this role. These skills enable Principal Platform Engineers to design reliable, scalable infrastructure, mentor teams, and drive technical excellence across the organization.

What are the typical challenges a Principal Platform Engineer faces in their daily work?

Principal Platform Engineers often navigate the complexities of designing scalable systems, implementing automation, and maintaining platform reliability in dynamic, high-traffic environments. They may face challenges such as balancing architectural decisions with business needs, ensuring system security, and integrating new technologies while minimizing disruptions. Collaboration across multiple teams—such as development, operations, and security—is a vital and ongoing aspect of the job. Staying current with the latest tools and best practices is important for overcoming these challenges and driving continuous platform improvement.

What engineers make $500,000 a year?

Principal Platform Engineers and other senior technical roles in technology companies can earn $500,000 or more annually, especially with bonuses, stock options, and extensive experience. These positions typically require advanced skills in cloud infrastructure, software architecture, and leadership, often involving working with tools like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud and holding relevant certifications.
What states have the most Principal Platform Engineer jobs? States with the most job openings for Principal Platform Engineer jobs include:
Infographic showing various Principal Platform Engineer job openings in the United States as of May 2026, with employment types broken down into 81% Full Time, 8% Part Time, 3% Temporary, and 8% Contract. Highlights an 66% Physical, 3% Hybrid, and 31% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $147,220 per year, or $70.8 per hour.
Principal Platform Engineer (Hybrid)

Principal Platform Engineer (Hybrid)

Raytheon

Aurora, CO • Hybrid

Full-time

Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Retirement, PTO

Posted 7 days ago


Raytheon rating

9.1

Company rating: 9.1 out of 10

Based on 81 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

3rd of 511 rated manufacturers


Job description

Date Posted:

2026-05-21

Country:

United States of America

Location:

US-CO-AURORA-S75 ~ 16800 E Centretech Pkwy ~ BLDG S75

Position Role Type:

Hybrid

U.S. Citizen, U.S. Person, or Immigration Status Requirements:

The ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government issued security clearance is required.​ U.S. citizenship is required, as only U.S. citizens are eligible for a security clearance

Security Clearance Type:

TS/SCI without Polygraph

Security Clearance Status:

Active and existing security clearance required after day 1

At RTX, the world’s largest aerospace and defense company, 185,000 great minds are united by purpose and inspired to make a difference solving the world’s most complex problems. With our three market leading businesses, world-class operations and investments in research and development, we offer capabilities and opportunity no one else can. Together, we push the boundaries of known science and find new ways to connect and protect our world. 

Raytheon brings the strength of more than 100 years of experience and renowned engineering expertise to meet the needs of today’s mission and stay ahead of tomorrow’s threat. We deliver solutions that help our nation and allies defend freedom and deter aggression, creating a safer, more secure world. Join us and help shape the future of aerospace and defense.

At Raytheon, the foundation of everything we do is rooted in our values and a higher calling – to help our nation and allies defend freedoms and deter aggression.  We bring the strength of more than 100 years of experience and renowned engineering expertise to meet the needs of today’s mission and stay ahead of tomorrow’s threat.  Our team solves tough, meaningful problems that create a safer, more secure world. 

We are seeking a Principal Platform Engineer to support this need as a hands-on engineer, but also to lead the design and evolution Developer ecosystem as a Product Owner, or in a Scrum Master capacity. This role focuses on building intuitive, self-service workflows that enable development teams onboard, deploy, and operate software efficiently across secure environments.

You will operate at the intersection of product, platform, and users — maintaining and translating developer needs into usable platform capabilities. The role requires strong frontend engineering instincts, backed by solid backend and cloud-native platform knowledge.

You will help define how engineers interact with the platform — not just build services but design the experience. This position involves architecting UI workflows, integrating APIs, enabling self-service automation, and shaping platform standards used across multiple programs and security domains. 

What Makes This Role Unique

This is not a traditional backend platform engineering role. You will support the role as a Product Owner yet still have your hands on the design and implementation and how developers interact with the platform itself — shaping onboarding, automation, and daily workflows across a large engineering organization. Success in this role is measured by developer adoption, efficiency, and satisfaction. You will be the person who turns infrastructure into a usable product. 

Note This Position will be based out of Aurora Colorado but may be supported Hybrid at either Richardson TX; or Dulles VA: if local to these other areas.

What You Will Do

  • Provide Product Ownership to the deliverable design.
  • Implement user-focused workflows for onboarding, resource provisioning, and lifecycle management
  • Develop frontend experiences using modern web frameworks (React/TypeScript)
  • Implement backend services and APIs supporting the portal (Python/FastAPI)
  • Integrate platform systems (Kubernetes, CI/CD, identity, secrets, cost services, and infrastructure automation)
  • Partner with other platform teams to convert infrastructure capabilities into self-service products
  • Improve usability, adoption, and developer satisfaction across the platform
  • Gather feedback from engineering teams and translate it into product improvements
  • Create documentation and enablement materials
  • Communicate technical concepts to both engineers and leadership 

Qualifications You Must Have 

  • Typically requires BS/BA Degree in Science, Technology Engineering Math (STEM) in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Technology or Physics and a minimum 8 years of related work experience
  • Experience with NodeJS and other UI Frameworks
  • Experience with one or more of the following: - Programming: Python, Java, TypeScript, Golang, Rust, Shell. - Frameworks: React/Next.js, Flask, Spring Boot, Svelte. - Infrastructure as Code: Terraform, Ansible or equivalent. - Data formats: JSON, XML, YAML, SQL
  • Experience in one or more of the following: - Cloud platforms: AWS, Azure, or similar on-prem/self-hosted infrastructure; - Containerization: Docker, Podman. - Orchestration: Kubernetes, Rancher. - Databases: PostgreSQL, MongoDB. - Product tooling: Jira / Atlassian ecosystem. - Observability platforms. - Generative AI developer tooling
  • Ability to obtain a TS/SCI Security Clearance is required after day 1. U.S. citizenship is required, as only U.S. citizens are eligible for a security clearance

Qualifications We Prefer 

  • Experience with Windows and Linux operating systems (RHEL 8+ preferred)
  • Experience building or supporting Internal Developer Platforms (IDPs)
  • Experience improving developer workflows or platform usability
  • Background in DoD, Intelligence, or Space environments
  • Experience working in scaled agile environments
  • Experience leading platform or product initiatives
  • Modern DevSecOps practices
  • Software testing methodologies
  • RESTful API and distributed architecture design
  • Secure system design principles
  • Technical documentation
  • Ability to understand business, product, and engineering context simultaneously
  • Ability to research, prototype, and recommend platform strategy
  • Experience defining engineering standards and processes

What We Offer

  • Our values drive our actions, behaviors, and performance with a vision for a safer, more connected world. At RTX we value: Safety, Trust, Respect, Accountability, Collaboration, and Innovation
  • Relocation Eligibility

Learn More & Apply Now!

  • Please consider the following role type definition as you apply for this role
  • Hybrid: Employees who are working in Hybrid roles will work regularly both onsite and offsite. Ratio of time working onsite will be determined in partnership with your leader

This position requires security clearance. DCSA Consolidated Adjudication Services (DCSA CAS), an agency of the Department of Defense, handles and adjudicates the security clearance process. More information about Security Clearances can be found on the US Department of State government website here: https://www.state.gov/m/ds/clearances/c10978.htm

Location: Aurora, CO

  • We Are RTX

As part of our commitment to maintaining a secure hiring process, candidates may be asked to attend select steps of the interview process in-person at one of our office locations, regardless of whether the role is designated as on-site, hybrid or remote.

The salary range for this role is 107,500 USD - 204,500 USD. The salary range provided is a good faith estimate representative of all experience levels. RTX considers several factors when extending an offer, including but not limited to, the role, function and associated responsibilities, a candidate’s work experience, location, education/training, and key skills.Hired applicants may be eligible for benefits, including but not limited to, medical, dental, vision, life insurance, short-term disability, long-term disability, 401(k) match, flexible spending accounts, flexible work schedules, employee assistance program, Employee Scholar Program, parental leave, paid time off, and holidays. Specific benefits are dependent upon the specific business unit as well as whether or not the position is covered by a collective-bargaining agreement.Hired applicants may be eligible for annual short-term and/or long-term incentive compensation programs depending on the level of the position and whether or not it is covered by a collective-bargaining agreement. Payments under these annual programs are not guaranteed and are dependent upon a variety of factors including, but not limited to, individual performance, business unit performance, and/or the company’s performance.This role is a U.S.-based role. If the successful candidate resides in a U.S. territory, the appropriate pay structure and benefits will apply.RTX anticipates the application window closing approximately 40 days from the date the notice was posted. However, factors such as candidate flow and business necessity may require RTX to shorten or extend the application window.

RTX is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability or veteran status, or any other applicable state or federal protected class. RTX provides affirmative action in employment for qualified Individuals with a Disability and Protected Veterans in compliance with Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act.

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