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Senior Principal Software Engineer Jobs in Springfield, MO

As the senior AI technical contributor within Analytics,you'llpartner with Data Engineering and ... Principal AI Engineer, LLM, Snowflake, Cortex AI, Natural Language to SQL, Semantic Data Modeling ...

The Principal AI Engineer is the senior technical contributor within Analytics responsible for designing, developing, and implementing enterprise AI capabilities on the data platform with a focus on ...

The Principal AI Engineer is the senior technical contributor within Analytics responsible for designing, developing, and implementing enterprise AI capabilities on the data platform with a focus on ...

As the senior AI technical contributor within Analytics, you'll partner with Data Engineering and ... Principal AI Engineer, LLM, Snowflake, Cortex AI, Natural Language to SQL, Semantic Data Modeling ...

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Showing results 1-20

Senior Principal Software Engineer information

See Springfield, MO salary details

$74.6K

$141.4K

$195.1K

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

As of Aug 6, 2026, the average yearly pay for senior principal software engineer in Springfield, MO is $141,383.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $114,200.00 and $157,400.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What does a senior principal software engineer do?

A senior principal software engineer leads complex software development projects, designs system architecture, and mentors engineering teams. They focus on technical strategy, ensure code quality, and often collaborate with product managers to align technical solutions with business goals. Strong expertise in programming, system design, and problem-solving is essential for this role.

What is a senior principal software engineer?

A Senior Principal Software Engineer is a highly experienced and skilled professional who leads the design, architecture, and development of complex software systems. They often act as technical experts, providing guidance on best practices, code quality, and system scalability. In addition to coding, they mentor other engineers, influence technology strategy, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver business-critical solutions. Their role typically requires extensive industry experience and a deep understanding of both software engineering and business requirements.

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

To thrive as a Senior Principal Software Engineer, you need deep expertise in software development, architecture design, and advanced problem-solving, typically supported by a bachelor's or master's degree in computer science or a related field. Mastery of programming languages (such as Java, C++, or Python), cloud platforms (like AWS or Azure), and experience with CI/CD tools or architectural frameworks is essential, with certifications like AWS Certified Solutions Architect being advantageous. Exceptional leadership, communication, and mentorship skills set outstanding candidates apart by enabling them to guide teams and influence technical direction. These competencies ensure the delivery of robust, scalable solutions and drive organizational innovation and efficiency.

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

AspectSenior Principal Software EngineerLead Software Engineer
CredentialsBachelor's/Master's in CS or related field, extensive experienceBachelor's/Master's in CS or related field, significant experience
Work EnvironmentStrategic, architecture, and high-level technical leadershipProject management, team coordination, technical guidance
Industry UsageResearch, enterprise, large-scale tech companiesProduct teams, startups, mid-sized companies

The Senior Principal Software Engineer typically focuses on strategic technical direction and architecture, often working across teams and influencing company-wide technology decisions. In contrast, the Lead Software Engineer manages project execution and team coordination. Both roles require advanced technical skills, but their focus areas differ, with the Senior Principal emphasizing long-term vision and the Lead emphasizing project delivery.

How does a senior principal software engineer typically contribute to strategic decision-making within a technology organization?

Senior Principal Software Engineers play a key role in shaping technical direction and architecture at an organizational level. They often collaborate closely with engineering leadership, product managers, and cross-functional teams to evaluate technology choices and align projects with long-term business goals. This role involves mentoring other engineers, driving adoption of best practices, and proactively identifying technical risks and opportunities. By influencing architectural decisions and setting technical standards, Senior Principal Software Engineers help ensure the scalability, reliability, and maintainability of critical systems.
Infographic showing various Senior Principal Software Engineer job openings in Springfield, MO as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 100% Full Time. Highlights an 100% In-person job distribution, with an average salary of $141,383 per year, or $68 per hour.

Principal Software Engineer - Quality Assurance

O'Reilly Auto Parts

Springfield, MO • On-site

$127K - $170K/yr

Full-time

Medical, Dental, Vision, Retirement, PTO

Re-posted 28 days ago


O'Reilly Auto Parts rating

5.3

Company rating: 5.3 out of 10

Based on 1,884 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

546th of 730 rated retailers


Job description

The Principal Software Engineer- Quality Assurance operates with a high degree of independence, leveraging multiple functional and technology skillsets and provides technical oversight and strategic direction in the design, development, and implementation of scalable, secure, and high-performing quality engineering solutions.
This is an on site position located in Springfield, MO.
Responsibilities and Duties:
  • Document "as is" and "to be" QA processes and describe the changes required to migrate to the "to be" capability to accurately record the changes required.
  • Discuss and recommend technical developments to improve the quality of software solutions and supporting infrastructure to better meet users' needs.
  • Partner with cross-functional teams to conceptualize technology solutions, leveraging data to drive original design ideas and decisions.
  • Guide the development of existing and new applications by analyzing and identifying areas for modification and improvement.
  • Develop, automate, and perform complex testing and monitoring to diagnose and correct application functionality and/or performance issues; validate and interpret test data to verify that specifications are met and/or to identify remedial actions required to ensure suitability.
  • Ensure best practices around robust solution monitoring and alerting to proactively diagnose application performance or stability issues.
  • Monitor, identify, and correct the most-complex software defects to maintain fully functioning applications software.
  • Lead team in work breakdown and estimation of software development activities in order to develop and achieve software project delivery timelines; may provide resource staffing recommendations.
  • Contribute to and maintain a technical roadmap to facilitate application software development and ensure the development work is prioritized in line with business requirements.
  • Oversee others on continuous integration activities (sharing, testing and building), working within established operational systems.
  • Explore and develop a detailed understanding of external developments or emerging issues and contribute to the evaluation of their potential impact on, or usefulness to, the organization.
  • Develop own capabilities by participating in assessment and development planning activities as well as formal and informal training and coaching; gain or maintain external professional accreditation, where relevant, to improve performance and fulfill personal potential. Maintain an in-depth understanding of technology, external regulation, and industry best practices through ongoing education, attending conferences, and reading specialist media.

Skills:
Required:

  • Provides team oversight and guidance, to understand and apply the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), including requirements analysis, design, development, testing, and maintenance, to effectively develop software that supports modelling activities.
  • Plans, organizes, prioritizes and oversees activities to efficiently meet objectives.
  • Assimilates and understands data and information from various sources in order to draw appropriate conclusions and make relevant recommendation.
  • Understands business context, needs, rules, and architecture, as well as organizational structure, cultures, capabilities, and processes to document the current state of technology and operational processes.
  • Leads team to envision and document the future state of processes and products by identifying the solution scope, potential value of the future state, and the changes to the process, technology, organization infrastructure, and capabilities necessary to achieve the desired future state.
  • Creates clear, comprehensives, effective documentation and artifacts that convey complex technical concepts that illustrate and explain overall technical specifications and solution/architecture design; may provide oversight and review of teams' technical documentation.
  • Develops software through use of programming languages, tools, and platforms including:
  • Object or component-oriented development
  • Database User Interfaces and Queries
  • Cloud Computing: understand, deploy, and manage cloud-based infrastructure and services.
  • Designs, executes and reports on systems/service tests to ensure that an application functions as specified in the requirements.
  • Installs, sets up, configures, and manages software and environments.
  • Monitors, diagnoses and fixes problems
  • with technology products.

Preferred:
  • Experience with WDIO, Rest Assured and TestComplete
  • Experience with Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and cloud-based testing
  • Experience with AI/GenAI in QA, including:
    • LLM-based test generation
    • Agentic workflows / mini agents
  • Experience with BDD frameworks (Cucumber)
  • Exposure to performance testing and scalability validation
  • Knowledge of accessibility testing and cross-browser strategies
  • Experience working in a TCoE or enterprise QA transformation environment

Education: Bachelor's Degree or Equivalent Level in Computer Science or related field
Experience: Experienced practitioner able to deal with the majority of situations and to advise others (3 to 6 years)
Managerial Experience: Experience with general supervision of more junior colleagues (7 to 12 months)
O'Reilly Auto Parts has a proven track record of growth and stability. O'Reilly is full of successful career stories and believes in a strong promote-from-within philosophy, encouraging you to grow your career along with the organization.
Total Compensation Package:
  • Competitive Wages & Paid Time Off
  • Stock Purchase Plan & 401k with Employer Contributions Starting Day One
  • Medical, Dental, & Vision Insurance with Optional Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
  • Team Member Health/Wellbeing Programs
  • Tuition Educational Assistance Programs
  • Opportunities for Career Growth

O'Reilly Auto Parts is an equal opportunity employer. The Company does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin or ancestry (including immigration status or citizenship), sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy (including childbirth, lactation, and related medical conditions,) age (40 and over), veteran status, uniformed service member status, physical or mental disability, genetic information (including testing or characteristics) or another protected status as defined by local, state, or federal law, as applicable.
Qualified individuals with a disability may be entitled to reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act. If you require a reasonable accommodation during the application or employment process, please send an email to: rar@oreillyauto.com or call (800) 471-7431 option , and provide your requested accommodation, and position details.

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