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Principal Software Development Engineer Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Principal Software Engineer

Seattle, WA · On-site

$153K - $206K/yr

We are looking for a Principal Software Development Engineer (IC4) who operates as an AI native builder. This is not a traditional software engineering role centered on manual coding. Engineers on ...

Principal Software Engineer

Seattle, WA · On-site

$153K - $206K/yr

We are looking for a Principal Software Development Engineer (IC4) who operates as an AI native builder. This is not a traditional software engineering role centered on manual coding. Engineers on ...

Principal Software Engineer

Nashville, TN · On-site

$130K - $174K/yr

We are looking for a Principal Software Development Engineer (IC4) who operates as an AI native builder. This is not a traditional software engineering role centered on manual coding. Engineers on ...

SDET

$51.25 - $66/hr

You will be under the guidance of a Principal SDET of a team with an already-established, mature testing process. Your role will be that of a "full-stack" QA Engineer - someone who has a strong ...

Principal Software Engineer

Seattle, WA · On-site

$153K - $206K/yr

We are looking for a Principal Software Development Engineer (IC4) who operates as an AI native builder. This is not a traditional software engineering role centered on manual coding. Engineers on ...

As a Principal Software Development Engineer in the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Security Platform division, you will play a critical leadership role in the architecture, evolution, and delivery ...

Principal Software Development Engineer

Seattle, WA · On-site

$153K - $206K/yr

As a Principal Software Development Engineer in the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Security Platform division, you will play a critical leadership role in the architecture, evolution, and delivery ...

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Principal Software Development Engineer information

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$60.5K

$160.9K

$231K

How much do principal software development engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Jun 12, 2026, the average yearly pay for principal software development engineer in the United States is $160,936.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $135,000.00 and $181,000.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

How does a Principal Software Development Engineer typically collaborate with other teams within the organization?

As a Principal Software Development Engineer, you will frequently work cross-functionally with product managers, designers, and other engineering teams to align technical solutions with business goals. You may also mentor junior engineers, participate in architectural reviews, and help drive the adoption of best practices across teams. This role often involves leading technical discussions, facilitating communication between stakeholders, and ensuring that projects are delivered efficiently and at a high standard. Collaborative skills and the ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly are essential for success in this position.

What is a Principal Software Development Engineer?

A Principal Software Development Engineer is a senior technical leader responsible for designing, developing, and guiding complex software projects. They often set technical direction, mentor engineering teams, and ensure best practices are followed across projects. Principal engineers collaborate closely with product managers, architects, and other stakeholders to deliver scalable and robust software solutions. Their role usually requires extensive experience in software engineering, deep technical expertise, and strong leadership skills.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a Principal Software Development Engineer, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Principal Software Development Engineer, you need deep expertise in software architecture, advanced programming skills, and a strong foundation in computer science, typically supported by a bachelor's or master's degree in a related field. Mastery of development frameworks, cloud platforms (such as AWS or Azure), and familiarity with CI/CD tools are commonly required, along with experience leading code reviews and technical teams. Exceptional communication, leadership, and problem-solving abilities help you mentor others and drive cross-functional projects to success. These skills and qualities are critical for guiding technical direction, ensuring high-quality solutions, and fostering innovation within engineering teams.
What states have the most Principal Software Development Engineer jobs? States with the most job openings for Principal Software Development Engineer jobs include:
Infographic showing various Principal Software Development Engineer job openings in the United States as of June 2026, with employment types broken down into 1% As Needed, 61% Full Time, 24% Part Time, 4% Temporary, 9% Contract, and 1% Nights. Highlights an 87% Physical, 5% Hybrid, and 8% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $160,936 per year, or $77.4 per hour.
Principal Software Engineer

Principal Software Engineer

Oracle

Seattle, WA • On-site

$153K - $206K/yr

Full-time

Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Retirement, PTO

Posted 9 days ago


Oracle rating

8.7

Company rating: 8.7 out of 10

Based on 134 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

39th of 188 rated software companies


Job description

Job Description
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is building the next generation of AI native engineering systems powering cloud operations, infrastructure automation, and developer productivity at scale.
We are looking for a Principal Software Development Engineer (IC4) who operates as an AI native builder. This is not a traditional software engineering role centered on manual coding. Engineers on this team use AI assisted development, coding agents, and automation first workflows as the default mode of software creation.
This role focuses on rapidly building intelligent systems, internal platforms, operational tooling, and cloud native services using modern AI driven engineering practices. You will work across distributed systems, automation platforms, developer experience, and operational intelligence to dramatically improve engineering velocity, reliability, and scale.
Engineers on this team are expected to deeply integrate LLMs, coding copilots, agentic IDEs, and AI orchestration workflows into their daily development process. Success in this role is measured not only by code written, but by the ability to effectively leverage AI systems to accelerate delivery, automate repetitive engineering work, and solve high impact operational problems.
Responsibilities
As a Principal Software Development Engineer, you will:
  • Design and build scalable cloud native systems, automation platforms, and intelligent operational tooling.
  • Use AI assisted development workflows as the primary engineering model for software design, implementation, debugging, testing, and documentation.
  • Build systems where humans supervise and orchestrate intelligent automation rather than manually executing repetitive engineering tasks.
  • Rapidly prototype and productionize solutions using modern AI native development environments and agentic workflows.
  • Develop internal developer platforms, APIs, operational workflows, and AI enabled engineering systems.
  • Improve engineering productivity through intelligent automation, workflow orchestration, and self service tooling.
  • Partner across engineering, infrastructure, and operations teams to solve complex technical and operational challenges.
  • Drive operational excellence through observability, automated remediation, telemetry, and resilient system design.
  • Contribute to architecture, technical strategy, and engineering best practices across the organization.
  • Mentor engineers in modern AI native development practices and automation first engineering approaches.

Minimum Qualifications
  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related technical field.
  • 5+ years of software engineering experience building scalable production systems.
  • Strong programming skills in Java, Python, Go, or JavaScript/TypeScript.
  • Experience building distributed systems, cloud native applications, APIs, or automation platforms.
  • Experience with CI/CD systems, cloud infrastructure, containers, and modern software development practices.
  • Strong systems thinking, debugging, and problem solving skills.
  • Ability to independently drive projects in fast moving and ambiguous environments.

Preferred Qualifications
  • Deep experience using AI assisted development tools such as Cursor, Copilot, Claude, Codex or similar agentic engineering environments.
  • Strong understanding of AI native software development workflows, prompt driven engineering, and LLM assisted system design.
  • Experience building developer productivity tooling, workflow automation systems, or operational intelligence platforms.
  • Familiarity with Kubernetes, Docker, Terraform, and Infrastructure as Code technologies.
  • Experience with observability platforms, telemetry systems, and production operations.
  • Knowledge of LLM orchestration frameworks, retrieval systems, vector databases, or AI infrastructure concepts is a plus.
  • Demonstrated ability to rapidly ship high quality production systems using AI accelerated engineering workflows.
  • Strong communication and cross functional collaboration skills.

Qualifications
Disclaimer:
Certain U.S. based or U.S. customer or client-facing roles may be required to comply with applicable requirements, such as immunization/occupational health mandates, and/or drug testing requirements.
Range and benefit information provided in this posting are specific to the stated locations only
US: Hiring Range in USD from: $99,600 to $223,400 per annum. May be eligible for bonus and equity.
Oracle maintains broad salary ranges for its roles in order to account for variations in knowledge, skills, experience, market conditions and locations, as well as reflect Oracle's differing products, industries and lines of business.
Candidates are typically placed into the range based on the preceding factors as well as internal peer equity.
Oracle US offers a comprehensive benefits package which includes the following:
1. Medical, dental, and vision insurance, including expert medical opinion
2. Short term disability and long term disability
3. Life insurance and AD&D
4. Supplemental life insurance (Employee/Spouse/Child)
5. Health care and dependent care Flexible Spending Accounts
6. Pre-tax commuter and parking benefits
7. 401(k) Savings and Investment Plan with company match
8. Paid time off: Flexible Vacation is provided to all eligible employees assigned to a salaried (non-overtime eligible) position. Accrued Vacation is provided to all other employees eligible for vacation benefits. For employees working at least 35 hours per week, the vacation accrual rate is 13 days annually for the first three years of employment and 18 days annually for subsequent years of employment. Vacation accrual is prorated for employees working between 20 and 34 hours per week. Employees working fewer than 20 hours per week are not eligible for vacation.
9. 11 paid holidays
10. Paid sick leave: 72 hours of paid sick leave upon date of hire. Refreshes each calendar year. Unused balance will carry over each year up to a maximum cap of 112 hours.
11. Paid parental leave
12. Adoption assistance
13. Employee Stock Purchase Plan
14. Financial planning and group legal
15. Voluntary benefits including auto, homeowner and pet insurance
The role will generally accept applications for at least three calendar days from the posting date or as long as the job remains posted.
Career Level - IC4
About Us
Only Oracle brings together the data, infrastructure, applications, and expertise to power everything from industry innovations to life-saving care. And with AI embedded across our products and services, we help customers turn that promise into a better future for all. Discover your potential at a company leading the way in AI and cloud solutions that impact billions of lives.
True innovation starts when everyone is empowered to contribute. That's why we're committed to growing a workforce that promotes opportunities for all with competitive benefits that support our people with flexible medical, life insurance, and retirement options. We also encourage employees to give back to their communities through our volunteer programs.
We're committed to including people with disabilities at all stages of the employment process. If you require accessibility assistance or accommodation for a disability at any point, let us know by emailing accommodation-request_mb@oracle.com or by calling 1-888-404-2494 in the United States.
Oracle is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability and protected veterans' status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Oracle will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records pursuant to applicable law.

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About Oracle

Sourced by ZipRecruiter

An Oracle career can span industries, roles, Countries and cultures, giving you the opportunity to flourish in new roles and innovate, while blending work life in. Oracle has thrived through 40+ years of change by innovating and operating with integrity while delivering for the top companies in almost every industry. In order to nurture the talent that makes this happen, we are committed to an inclusive culture that celebrates and values diverse insights and perspectives, a workforce that inspires thought leadership and innovation. Oracle offers a highly competitive suite of Employee Benefits designed on the principles of parity, consistency, and affordability. The overall package includes certain core elements such as Medical, Life Insurance, access to Retirement Planning, and much more. We also encourage our employees to engage in the culture of giving back to the communities where we live and do business. At Oracle, we believe that innovation starts with diversity and inclusion and to create the future we need talent from various backgrounds, perspectives, and abilities. We ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to successfully participate in the job application, interview process, and in potential roles. to perform crucial job functions. That's why we're committed to creating a workforce where all individuals can do their best work. It's when everyone's voice is heard and valued that we're inspired to go beyond what's been done before.

Industry

It services

Company size

10,000+ Employees

Headquarters location

Redwood City, CA, US

Year founded

1977

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