What Principal Software Engineering Jobs Ask For
Across 495 open Principal Software Engineering postings that list skills, the ones mentioned most often are ai, cloud, api.
Updated November 1, 2026
504 open Principal Software Engineering postings. The percentages below are measured over the 495 of them that list skills at all.
| Skill | Mentioned in |
|---|---|
| ai | 65% |
| cloud | 58% |
| api | 48% |
| distributed-systems | 42% |
| observability | 35% |
| java | 34% |
| ci-cd | 30% |
| python | 28% |
| kubernetes | 28% |
| aws | 26% |
| agentic-ai | 26% |
| machine-learning | 23% |
| azure | 21% |
| automation | 20% |
| gcp | 18% |
| llm | 18% |
| sql | 17% |
| github | 16% |
| react | 16% |
| cloud-native | 16% |
| cpp | 16% |
| microservices | 15% |
| rest | 15% |
| devops | 13% |
| typescript | 13% |
| analytics | 13% |
| prototyping | 12% |
| networking | 12% |
| infrastructure-as-code | 12% |
| spring | 12% |
| event-driven-architecture | 11% |
| kafka | 11% |
| docker | 11% |
| sdlc | 11% |
| terraform | 10% |
| agile | 10% |
| postgresql | 10% |
| saas | 9% |
| rust | 9% |
| sql-server | 9% |
"Mentioned in" counts postings that name the skill anywhere — including as a nice-to-have — so treat it as the ceiling, not the bar.
Browse 504 open Principal Software Engineering jobs →
Across all Software Engineering levels
Most Software Engineering postings never state a level. This wider list covers them too.
- ai 8,981
- cloud 7,622
- api 7,051
- python 6,262
- ci-cd 4,618
- aws 4,528
- java 4,527
- distributed-systems 3,754
- kubernetes 3,690
- automation 3,627
- sql 3,321
- typescript 3,228