Organizations across the USA are actively seeking a principal data engineer to lead the design and evolution of large-scale data platforms. With 500+ open positions available, this remote opportunity suits professionals ready to architect robust pipelines and mentor engineering teams. Demand for this expertise continues to climb as companies prioritize data-driven decision-making at scale.
The strongest candidates bring deep expertise in distributed systems, cloud infrastructure such as AWS, Azure, or GCP, and advanced proficiency in Python, SQL, and Spark. A principal data engineer should demonstrate a proven ability to design scalable ETL pipelines, optimize data warehousing solutions, and enforce governance and security best practices. Leadership skills matter too, since this role often involves guiding cross-functional teams, setting technical direction, and translating complex business needs into reliable, maintainable data architecture.
Remote work has become the standard arrangement for senior technical roles like this one, allowing companies to hire a principal data engineer from anywhere in the country while offering flexibility that supports deep, focused work. The U.S. market shows strong hiring momentum, with employers competing to attract engineers who can modernize legacy systems and support machine learning initiatives. This trend reflects a broader shift toward distributed, asynchronous collaboration across data teams.
If you are exploring principal data engineer jobs in the USA, now is an excellent time to take the next step in your career. Browse current principal data engineer vacancies and discover roles that match your expertise through Global Work AI. Take a moment to explore open principal data engineer positions and find the opportunity that fits your ambitions.
Aerospike
Drive system architecture by collaborating with enterprise engineers to design systems and data schemas. Write and optimize high-performance production code for distributed data backends and agentic execution frameworks.
remote, United StatesFull TimeLead / Manager
Celestica International LP
Define AI/ML infrastructure platform solutions and lead a multi-disciplined team through implementation. Develop technical relationships with suppliers, lead RFQ responses, and provide trade-off analysis to engineering teams.
remote, NH, United States$166k – $228k/yrFull TimeLead / Manager
Workiva Inc.
Lead the development of safety controls for AI-native delivery, partnering with engineering and compliance teams. Build pre-production verification systems and automated safety measures. Define technical strategy and design controls to ensure system integrity and safety.
remote, IA, United States$177k – $290k/yrFull TimeLead / Manager
GEICO
Define and drive the enterprise data architecture vision, focusing on data mesh principles. Establish domain boundaries and ownership models, design reference architectures for data products, and guide the development of a self-serve data platform.
remote, United States$136k – $212k/yrFull TimeLead / Manager
Zscaler
Create and deliver technical product presentations, gather customer technical requirements, lead product evaluations, and design evaluation test plans to ensure successful outcomes for customers in the Public Sector segment.
remote, United States$176k – $251k/yrFull TimeSenior (5+ years)
Fleet Data Centers
Lead the design and implementation of civil systems for data centers. Manage civil engineering designs, including roads, drainage, and site works. Collaborate with cross-functional teams and external consultants on multiple projects.
remote, United States$150k – $195k/yrFull TimeLead / Manager
Rocket Companies
Drive analytical decision-making on initiatives, leading projects from inception to deployment. Build and maintain the analytics pipeline, ensuring data accessibility while upholding privacy requirements.
remote, CA, United States$129k – $276k/yrFull TimeLead / Manager
Motional
Define and execute motion planning and prediction projects for self-driving vehicles. Lead and manage a team of engineers while designing and implementing behavior models using machine learning and generative AI.
remote, United States$240k – $330k/yrFull TimeLead / Manager
Consumer Edge
Design and maintain identity data models and matching logic. Build and run production data pipelines, ensuring data quality and anomaly detection. Lead design reviews, mentor data engineers, and set technical direction for identity and audience data.
remote, CA, United States$175k – $210k/yrFull TimeLead / Manager
WEXWEXUS
Define and influence the architecture for WEX's Semantic Data Lake and Data as a Service. Design and build semantic business objects integrating enterprise data and business context. Develop scalable frameworks for semantic objects across business lines.
remote, ME, United States$201k – $250k/yrFull TimeLead / Manager
MPLC
Own and enhance the US and UK go-to-market data pipeline, ensuring 90% first-pass sales acceptance. Lead a technical team, setting standards while remaining hands-on. Transform the platform from a batch pipeline to a signal-driven system that efficiently routes accounts to sales pods.
remote, United States$89k – $103k/yrFull TimeLead / Manager
UnitedHealth Group
Design and develop scalable cloud applications and services in Azure. Build and optimize large-scale data pipelines and ETL/ELT processes using Azure Databricks and Apache Spark. Deploy AI-driven solutions for business intelligence and reporting.
remote, United States$113k – $193k/yrFull TimeLead / Manager
LifeStance Health
Architect and maintain SQL-based data transformations for analysis-ready datasets. Lead design of enterprise data models and semantic layers for consistent analysis. Establish analytics engineering standards and mentor data analysts in best practices.
remote, United States$160k – $175k/yrFull TimeLead / Manager
Atlassian
Design and optimize high-scale, distributed storage systems using AWS technologies. Lead technical deep dives, architecture reviews, and root cause analyses for storage performance issues. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to enhance scalability and reliability of backend storage solutions.
remote, United StatesFull TimeLead / ManagerUnitedHealth Group
Design, build, and deploy data pipelines and transformations for enterprise finance challenges. Collaborate with AI engineers on RAG architectures and evaluate data sources for finance solutions. Implement data quality monitoring and support experimentation through reliable datasets.
remote, United States$113k – $193k/yrFull TimeSenior (5+ years)
Jabil
Lead the development and implementation of advanced control systems for critical infrastructure products. Design wiring harness systems, create schematics, and develop specifications.
remote, TX, United States$132k – $238k/yrFull TimeSenior (5+ years)
Fusable
Establish baselines for data coverage, freshness, and quality across Fusable brands. Identify automation opportunities and build business cases for engineering requirements. Develop SLAs for data delivery and quality metrics, collaborating with Sales and Customer Success.
remote, United States$125k – $150k/yrFull TimeSenior (5+ years)
UNITED NETWORK FOR ORGAN SHARING
Own the enterprise data architecture, creating data models and defining standards. Lead the design and integration of the UNOS data intelligence lakehouse, ensuring compliance with EMR/EHR standards. Build and oversee data pipelines on Azure and Databricks, ensuring data quality and governance.
remote, WY, United States$145k – $170k/yrFull TimeSenior (5+ years)
AlphaSense
Set the architecture and roadmap for the Data Platform, build capabilities for large-scale data migrations, and enable product teams to provision and scale their own storage.
remote, United States$246k – $339k/yrFull TimeLead / Manager
Microsoft
Oversee data acquisition and ensure proper formatting and description. Evaluate models using business outcome metrics, recommend improvements, and develop operational models. Conduct reviews of data analysis techniques and identify new evaluation methods.
remote, United States$143k – $304k/yrFull TimeLead / Manager
Attain Finance
Evaluate existing data architecture, identify gaps, and propose solutions. Provide architectural guidance and design reviews, ensuring consistent engineering principles. Lead the design and implementation of data pipelines and integration patterns across Snowflake, AWS, and Airflow.
remote, United States$170k – $190k/yrFull TimeLead / Manager
LED FastStart
Design and deliver enterprise analytics solutions across various business functions. Lead the development of KPIs, dashboards, and reporting structures. Analyze complex data to identify trends and opportunities for improvement. Mentor team members and establish analytics development standards.
remote, LA, United StatesFull TimeLead / Manager
Devoted Health
Design, develop, and maintain a scalable data platform for analytics and AI workloads. Build infrastructure for the Semantic Layer and Data Agent, ensuring data availability and quality. Collaborate with Data Science and Product Engineering on tooling for reliable data and AI products.
remote, United States$131k – $200k/yrFull TimeSenior (5+ years)Jabil
Lead mechanical systems for Data Center Infrastructure, focusing on thermal components. Develop specifications, select components, and oversee design transitions to manufacturing. Implement test processes and equipment selection to ensure operational excellence and reliability.
remote, TX, United States$164k – $296k/yrFull TimeSenior (5+ years)
NVIDIA
Architect and scale data acquisition infrastructure for foundation models. Lead the design of scalable storage and queueing systems, develop a shared crawl execution layer, and build extensible pipelines for various content types.
remote, United States$272k – $431k/yrFull TimeLead / ManagerMitsubishi Electric Power Products
Lead business growth in consulting and system studies for data centers. Conduct advanced power system studies including load flow and fault studies. Oversee T&D system planning and interconnection operations.
remote, United States$144k – $164k/yrFull TimeSenior (5+ years)
Serhant
Design and implement lakehouse architecture using open-source technologies. Build and optimize ClickHouse deployments for analytical workloads. Develop ETL/ELT pipelines and create data models bridging Postgres and ClickHouse.
remote, United States$180k/yrFull TimeSenior (5+ years)
TekWissen
Architect and oversee development of ELT/ETL pipelines for finance data. Lead adoption of Snowflake and Databricks for data processing. Define standards for cloud infrastructure on Azure or AWS. Establish frameworks for data quality, testing, and governance.
remote, TX, United States$117k/yrFull TimeLead / Manager
Sedgwick
Own the technical outcome of a value-stream pod, architect and build production Generative AI agents and applications, and set engineering standards. Lead technical solution design, conduct troubleshooting, and provide mentoring to engineers.
remote, United StatesFull TimeSenior (5+ years)
Fetch
Own technical direction and delivery, defining architecture and implementation for Fetch’s data business. Build and maintain production software, including services, APIs, and workflows.
remote, United StatesFull TimeLead / ManagerMotional
Build and manage a high-performing team focused on creating and optimizing data, training, and evaluation pipelines for perception modeling. Provide technical guidance and mentorship, define team goals, and collaborate with ML engineers to resolve technical challenges.
remote, United States$240k – $330k/yrFull TimeLead / Manager
Enlyte
Administer the Snowflake platform, manage associated tooling, and design integrations with source systems and AWS services. Implement security controls, monitor platform health, and automate administrative tasks.
remote, United States$133k – $170k/yrFull TimeSenior (5+ years)
ZoomInfo Technologies LLC
Lead the design and architecture of scalable data platforms and pipelines. Establish engineering standards for data development, testing, and deployment. Drive technical decision-making across teams and mentor data engineers to enhance technical capabilities.
remote, United States$172k – $270k/yrFull TimeLead / Manager
PatientPoint
Design and develop scalable AI/ML-powered search services using Java and Python. Architect NoSQL data storage solutions, develop secure RESTful and GraphQL APIs, and build real-time data pipelines.
remote, United States$190k – $210k/yrFull TimeLead / Manager
Robots and Pencils
Set standards for data architecture across warehouses and lakes, design data governance strategies, define vision for data systems, and own architecture for AI/ML foundations. Mentor engineers, drive long-term data vision, and ensure compliance with security and governance standards.
remote, United States$170k – $260k/yrFull TimeLead / Manager
L3Harris Technologies
Oversee data ETL/ELT pipelines and ensure adherence to architectural standards. Lead design reviews for data solutions, including data sourcing and data models. Collaborate with development teams to implement high-quality data solutions within Palantir Foundry.
remote, FL, United States$133k – $284k/yrFull TimeSenior (5+ years)
Horizon3
Lead the technical direction for NodeZero's database architecture, including schema design, migration patterns, and scalability approaches. Write code, author design documents, and ensure the data layer supports growth.
remote, United States$255k – $290k/yrFull TimeSenior (5+ years)
Cushman & Wakefield
Design and implement scalable data architectures using Databricks and Azure. Lead technical data engineering work, including high-scale pipelines and workload optimization. Mentor engineers, establish engineering standards, and ensure high-quality outcomes across projects.
remote, United States$157k – $185k/yrFull TimeJunior (<2 years)
Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine
Lead the end-to-end data integration strategy, ensuring seamless data movement across various platforms. Own integration architecture decisions and standards, and drive the design, development, testing, and deployment of scalable integration solutions.
remote, NJ, United States$102k – $170k/yrFull TimeLead / Manager
Amazon
Deliver strategic technical projects and design new storage, data, and caching systems at massive scale. Lead architecture and engineering strategy for foundational services across S3, EBS, Glacier, and analytics layers. Mentor engineers while solving durability, availability, and latency problems.
remote, CA, United States$200k – $311k/yrFull TimeSenior (5+ years)10,000,000+ more jobs available!
