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Senior Principal Engineer Jobs in Remote, OR (NOW HIRING)

Principal Executive Recruiter

OR · Remote

  • Medical

  • Life

This senior individual contributor will lead complex VP+, SVP, and C-suite searches, with an ... engineering, digital infrastructure, cloud, cybersecurity, product, data, and network technology.

Principal Software Development Engineer

OR · Remote

$138K - $185K/yr

  • Medical

  • Life

... a senior technical leader at the center of transforming how customers, partners, and teams connect ... As a Principal Software Development Engineer, this individual serves as a strategic force behind ...

Principal Architect

OR · Remote

  • Medical

  • Life

Partnering closely with Engineering, Enterprise Architecture, Finance, Cloud Platform teams ... senior leadership. Develop business cases, ROI analyses, TCO assessments, and cloud investment ...

Senior Principal Engineer information

See Remote, OR salary details

$81.9K

$155.3K

$214.3K

How much do senior principal engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Aug 19, 2026, the average yearly pay for senior principal engineer in Remote, OR is $155,277.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $125,400.00 and $172,800.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a senior principal engineer?

A Senior Principal Engineer is a highly experienced technical leader who is responsible for guiding the overall engineering direction and strategy within an organization. They typically possess deep expertise in their field, provide mentorship to other engineers, and influence major architectural and technical decisions. Senior Principal Engineers often collaborate with cross-functional teams, ensure best practices are followed, and play a critical role in driving innovation. Their work has a significant impact on the company's products and technical vision.

What does a senior principal engineer do?

Senior Principal Engineers often serve as technical leaders on cross-functional projects, collaborating closely with product managers, architects, and development teams to define technical direction and ensure architectural consistency. They provide deep expertise to solve complex engineering challenges, mentor other engineers, and help align project goals with the organization's strategic vision. Their role frequently involves facilitating communication between different departments and ensuring technical decisions support both immediate project needs and long-term scalability.

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

To excel as a Senior Principal Engineer, you need deep technical expertise in your engineering discipline, advanced problem-solving abilities, and typically a bachelor's or master's degree in engineering or a related field. Proficiency with industry-standard design and simulation software, project management tools, and relevant certifications (such as PMP or PE) are often required. Exceptional leadership, strategic thinking, and strong communication skills distinguish top performers in this role. These competencies are vital for leading complex projects, driving innovation, and effectively guiding engineering teams to achieve organizational goals.

What is the difference between Senior Principal Engineer vs Lead Engineer?

AspectSenior Principal EngineerLead Engineer
CredentialsTypically requires a bachelor's or master's degree in engineering, with extensive industry experienceSimilar educational background, often with additional certifications or specialized training
Work EnvironmentFocuses on high-level technical strategy, innovation, and mentorship across projectsLeads specific projects or teams, overseeing technical execution and coordination
Industry UsageCommon in large corporations and R&D settingsFound in both startups and established companies, often in project-based roles

While both roles require strong technical expertise, the Senior Principal Engineer typically focuses on strategic technical leadership and innovation at an organizational level, whereas the Lead Engineer manages project execution and team coordination. The Senior Principal Engineer often operates at a higher, more strategic level within the engineering hierarchy.

What job categories do people searching Senior Principal Engineer jobs in Remote, OR look for?

The top searched job categories for Senior Principal Engineer jobs in Remote, OR are:

What cities near Remote, OR are hiring for Senior Principal Engineer jobs?

Cities near Remote, OR with the most Senior Principal Engineer job openings:

Principal Engineer - Database Platform Engineering & SRE

Lumen Technologies

OR • Remote

$58.25 - $77.50/hr

Full-time

Medical, Life

Posted yesterday

New


Lumen Technologies rating

8.6

Company rating: 8.6 out of 10

Based on 106 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

12th of 99 rated telecommunications companies


Job description

Lumen is the trusted network for the AIpowered world, connecting people, data, and applications through our expansive fiber network and connected ecosystem. We enable secure, highperformance connectivity across cloud, edge, and AI workloads for enterprises, governments, and communities.

At Lumen, you'll work on infrastructure customers rely on today and build for what's next, where performance, security, and resilience matter.

This is a high accountability environment where bold ideas drive real innovation for our customers, partners, and industry. The work is challenging, expectations are clear, and trust is built into how we operate. If you're ready to take ownership, deliver meaningful impact, and help shape the future of AIready connectivity, join us today.

Principal Engineer - Database Platform Engineering & SRE

The Principal Engineer is a senior technical leader responsible for driving the transformation of Lumen's database organization from a traditional operations-focused model to a modern Platform Engineering and Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) operating model.

This role focuses on standardization, automation, operational excellence, reliability, toil reduction, lifecycle management, observability, and continuous improvement across the existing database estate. The Principal Engineer will lead initiatives that reduce operational complexity, improve service reliability, accelerate cloud readiness, and increase engineering productivity through automation and process optimization.

Location

This role is designated as a fully remote position within the United States.

Key Responsibilities

Operational Transformation & SRE Enablement

  • Lead the transformation of DBA teams toward Platform Engineering and SRE practices.
  • Drive adoption of automation-first and reliability-focused operating models.
  • Develop engineering standards, operational processes, and best practices that improve consistency and scale.

Toil Reduction & Continuous Improvement

  • Identify and eliminate repetitive manual activities across database operations.
  • Analyze ServiceNow incidents, requests, and recurring work patterns to identify automation and optimization opportunities.
  • Drive reductions in ticket volume, operational overhead, and technical debt.

Platform Standardization & Cloud Readiness

  • Lead brownfield modernization, standardization, and simplification initiatives across database platforms.
  • Improve operational consistency, platform resiliency, and migration readiness.
  • Establish reusable engineering patterns that support modernization and cloud adoption initiatives.

Automation & Engineering Excellence

  • Establish automation frameworks, standards, governance, and reusable engineering capabilities.
  • Drive Operational automation initiatives.
  • Improve provisioning, patching, upgrades, compliance remediation, and operational workflows through automation.

Reliability Engineering & Observability

  • Establish proactive monitoring, observability, and performance management practices.
  • Drive improvements in platform reliability, availability, resiliency, and operational health.
  • Lead initiatives focused on performance optimization, capacity management, and operational risk reduction.

Lifecycle Management

  • Develop scalable approaches for patching, upgrades, platform currency, and lifecycle management.
  • Improve compliance with security, supportability, and operational standards.

Technical Leadership

  • Provide technical leadership, mentorship, and guidance across engineering and operational teams.
  • Partner with Operations, Security, Cloud, and Architecture teams to operationalize transformation initiatives.
  • Promote a culture of continuous improvement, engineering excellence, and operational discipline.
What We Look For in a Candidate

Required Qualifications:

  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or equivalent experience.
  • 12+ years of experience in database engineering, platform engineering, infrastructure engineering, site reliability engineering (SRE), cloud engineering, or related technical disciplines.
  • Proven experience leading large-scale engineering, automation, operational excellence, or transformation initiatives in complex enterprise environments.
  • Experience driving standardization, process optimization, reliability improvements, and operational efficiency across large-scale technology platforms.
  • Strong experience with Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC), automation, CI/CD, and modern engineering practices.
  • Demonstrated success leading cross-functional technical initiatives and influencing engineering teams.
  • Strong leadership, communication, problem-solving, and stakeholder management skills.

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Experience transforming traditional DBA or operations organizations into Platform Engineering, DevOps, or SRE operating models.
  • Experience with enterprise database platforms including Oracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Cassandra, or similar technologies.
  • Experience establishing automation standards, governance frameworks, reusable patterns, and self-service capabilities.
  • Hands-on experience with Terraform, Ansible, AWX, GitOps, CI/CD pipelines, scripting, and enterprise automation platforms.
  • Experience analyzing ServiceNow incident, request, and change data to identify service improvement and automation opportunities.
  • Experience implementing observability, proactive monitoring, reliability engineering, performance optimization, and operational health management practices.
  • Experience driving database lifecycle management programs including patching, upgrades, platform currency, vulnerability remediation, and technical debt reduction.
  • Experience leading brownfield standardization and optimization initiatives to simplify legacy environments and accelerate cloud migration readiness.
  • Experience supporting cloud migration, datacenter exit, modernization, or large-scale infrastructure transformation initiatives.
  • Familiarity with AWS, Azure, GCP, hybrid cloud, and multi-cloud environments.
  • Experience leveraging AI and intelligent automation to improve operational efficiency, engineering productivity, and service delivery.
Success Profile

The ideal candidate is a hands-on technical leader who thrives in transforming operational organizations into modern engineering organizations. This individual has a proven track record of reducing complexity, improving reliability, driving automation at scale, eliminating operational toil, and enabling cloud modernization through standardization, process optimization, and engineering excellence.

Compensation
This information reflects the anticipated base salary range for this position based on current national data. Minimums and maximums may vary based on location. Individual pay is based on skills, experience and other relevant factors.
Location Based Pay Ranges
$152,066 - $202,755 in these states: AL  AR  AZ  FL  GA  IA  ID  IN  KS  KY  LA  ME  MO  MS  MT  ND  NE  NM  OH  OK  PA  SC  SD  TN  UT  VT  WI  WV  WY 
$159,670 - $212,893 in these states: CO  HI  MI  MN  NC  NH  NV  OR  RI 
$167,273 - $223,031 in these states: AK  CA  CT  DC  DE  IL  MA  MD  NJ  NY  TX  VA  WA 
Lumen offers a comprehensive package featuring a broad range of Health, Life, Voluntary Lifestyle benefits and other perks that enhance your physical, mental, emotional and financial wellbeing. We're able to answer any additional questions you may have about our bonus structure (short-term incentives, long-term incentives and/or sales compensation) as you move through the selection process.   Learn more about Lumen's: Benefits

Bonus Structure

#LI-Remote

#LI-VK1

Requisition #: 343224

Life at Lumen

Life at Lumen is human and connected, even in a fast moving, AIfocused organization. We set clear expectations and trust people to meet them. With real support and shared accountability, teams collaborate better, move faster, and deliver meaningful outcomes. 

Our Lumen 8 behaviors guide how we interact, make decisions, and work together, shaping a culture built to perform and win.  

To learn more about Life at Lumen and how we live the Lumen 8, please visit:  
https://jobs.lumen.com/global/en/life-at-lumen

Background Screening

If you are selected for a position, there will be a background screen, which may include checks for criminal records and/or motor vehicle reports and/or drug screening, depending on the position requirements. For more information on these checks, please refer to the Post Offer section of our FAQ page. Job-related concerns identified during the background screening may disqualify you from the new position or your current role. Background results will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Equal Employment Opportunities

We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all persons regardless of race, color, ancestry, citizenship, national origin, religion, veteran status, disability, genetic characteristic or information, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, family status, pregnancy, or other legally protected status (collectively, "protected statuses"). We do not tolerate unlawful discrimination in any employment decisions, including recruiting, hiring, compensation, promotion, benefits, discipline, termination, job assignments or training.

Privacy Notice

Lumen is committed to protecting the privacy and security of personal information collected during the recruitment and hiring process. Our Applicant Privacy Notice explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect applicant information, as well as how individuals may request access to or deletion of their personal data.

To review Lumen's Global Employment Applicant and Talent Community Privacy Notice, please visit:
https://jobs.lumen.com/global/en/privacy-notice

Disclaimer

The job responsibilities described above indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not intended to include a comprehensive inventory of all duties and responsibilities for this job. Job duties and responsibilities are subject to change based on evolving business needs and conditions.

In any materials you submit, you may redact or remove age-identifying information such as age, date of birth, or dates of school attendance or graduation. You will not be penalized for redacting or removing this information.

Please be advised that Lumen does not require any form of payment from job applicants during the recruitment process. All legitimate job openings will be posted on our official website or communicated through official company email addresses. If you encounter any job offers that request payment in exchange for employment at Lumen, they are not for employment with us, but may relate to another company with a similar name.


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About Lumen Technologies

Sourced by ZipRecruiter

Lumen Technologies, headquartered in Monroe, LA, US, is a leader in the telecommunications industry. The company provides an array of solutions ranging from voice, broadband, and video services for consumers, businesses, and governmental agencies. Additionally, they offer data management, cloud, network, and IT services for enterprise customers. Lumen Technologies was founded in 1930, originally as the Louisiana Long Distance Independent Telephone Company. The company’s mission is to further human progress through technology, promoting a robust digital ecosystem, which is reflective of their core values of trust, respect, and innovative problem-solving that aims to have a significant impact on their clients' businesses.

Industry

Media and telecom

Company size

10,000+ Employees

Headquarters location

Monroe, LA, US

Year founded

1968

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