Top Principal Engineer Jobs in Chicago, IL

Lead as a customer‑embedded principal engineer to design, build, and ship production-grade solutions. Translate business needs into technical approaches, influence senior stakeholders, accelerate delivery in ambiguous environments, and transition work to FDE crews while driving long-term account impact.

Designs electromechanical servo systems, including motor selection, PWM and linear motor-drive hardware, digital controls, testing, troubleshooting, and subsystem integration. The engineer supports multiple defense programs and collaborates across disciplines. Responsibilities include power electronics design, high-precision multi-axis servo applications, trade studies, EMI/EMC compliance, digital communications, and embedded controller development. This is a full-time, on-site role requiring U.S. citizenship and government security clearance.

Provides technical leadership for Azure SQL databases supporting a highly available Azure service. Responsibilities include database performance tuning, reliability and capacity planning, schema changes, data migrations, observability, incident response, root cause analysis, operational automation, and technical strategy. The role partners with software engineers, SREs, and architects to improve scalability, durability, cost efficiency, and long-term service reliability across teams.

Build product features and improve technology platforms supporting claims processing and payment. Collaborate with subject matter experts, operations, and technology teams to design solutions that improve member experiences, operational efficiency, and provider relationships. The role requires individual technical contribution, ownership, comfort with ambiguity, and the ability to work across a broad technology stack in a fast-paced startup environment.

Design and operate large-scale, AI-native cloud infrastructure (especially Kubernetes/AKS). Improve service quality, automate incident prevention/remediation, accelerate engineering productivity, and integrate AI tools into development workflows.

Design and build Seeq’s internal platform, including infrastructure, services, multi-tenant Kubernetes clusters, system interfaces, and secure deployment capabilities. Improve scalability, reliability, software delivery, and infrastructure cost and performance. Lead migrations, integrate security practices, architect distributed systems, collaborate cross-functionally, and mentor engineers while remaining hands-on at Staff or Principal scope.

Own the networking architecture and roadmap for AKS Flex and Unbounded, enabling secure, reliable, high-performance Kubernetes connectivity across sites, clouds, edge environments, and on-premises infrastructure. Design overlay and underlay networks, routing, encrypted tunnels, eBPF dataplanes, and distributed systems for high-latency and partitioned environments. Integrate InfiniBand and RDMA for AI workloads, lead cross-team architecture efforts, improve global fleet performance and reliability, and participate in production operations and on-call rotations.

Lead architecture and hands-on development of Azure Kubernetes Service capabilities for AI workloads. Design secure, reliable, scalable distributed systems; coordinate engineering teams; define testing and deployment strategies; improve observability and operational readiness; investigate production issues; and mentor engineers while advancing engineering practices.

Lead architecture and development for AKS Flex, scaling etcd and Kubernetes control planes for distributed node fleets. Design remote-node provisioning, lifecycle automation, Kubernetes-native APIs, secure bootstrap, upgrades, and reliability systems across Azure, on-premises, edge, and other clouds. Drive performance testing, production operations, open-source collaboration, technical strategy, cross-team alignment, and mentorship while solving distributed-systems, storage, security, and scalability challenges.

Lead calibration architecture, optical integration, sustaining, troubleshooting, and manufacturing enablement for high-speed coherent optical linecards. Analyze calibration and test data, resolve production and field issues, develop lab-to-factory bring-up workflows, and collaborate with DSP, hardware, firmware, test, and manufacturing teams. Mentor optical engineers, communicate technical risks and trade-offs, and apply coherent optics expertise to current and next-generation platforms.

Lead design and delivery of high-voltage substation and SCADA systems for datacenter projects. Oversee specifications, consultant management, utility interconnection, equipment procurement, testing/commissioning, and EMT modeling support. Collaborate with global teams, vendors, and operations to ensure compliance with Microsoft technical standards.

Build and improve Azure Kubernetes Service capabilities for Linux and Windows containers. Develop distributed cloud infrastructure, automation, observability tooling, and reliability improvements at global scale. Support AI-native infrastructure, including GPU orchestration, model deployment, inference, and platform operations. Accelerate engineering workflows, prevent production incidents, integrate AI tools, and contribute to Kubernetes and cloud-native platform innovation.

As a Principal Software Dev Engineer, lead full-stack engineering, oversee complex initiatives, mentor engineers, and align technical strategies with business goals to enhance content management systems.

Leads complex control systems engineering projects across power, microgrid, water/wastewater, industrial automation, and CHP applications. Designs and evaluates DCS, PLC, instrumentation, HMI, and SCADA systems; develops technical documentation; provides client and construction support; participates in commissioning; signs and seals engineering deliverables; and supports proposals, estimating, and business development.

Provides technical leadership for Bluehost’s large-scale hosting platform. Sets architecture standards, designs Python and MySQL backend systems on Linux, modernizes Perl and cPanel integrations, and drives reliability engineering practices. Leads complex incident root-cause analysis, establishes AI-augmented delivery standards, mentors senior engineers, and shapes multi-quarter technical roadmaps across the organization.

Own the architecture, product direction, and hands-on development of Phoenix’s payments infrastructure across processors, gateways, vaults, tokenization, wallets, routing, authorization, disputes, fraud, reconciliation, and reliability. Lead merchant and processor integrations, improve approval rates, manage payment-method portability, maintain PCI-compliant systems, and own incident response. The role combines principal engineering with payments product ownership, requiring direct customer engagement, roadmap decisions, technical design, coding, and accountability for business outcomes.

Develop and maintain embedded software and firmware for defense systems. Responsibilities include requirements analysis, software design, C++ coding, testing, debugging, integration, and lifecycle support on Linux or VxWorks. The role involves working with customers and technical teams, applying Agile or Waterfall methods, and integrating software with target hardware. The position is full-time and on-site in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, supporting mission-critical targeting, RF, and MSS products.

Develops, integrates, tests, and maintains embedded software and firmware for defense systems. Responsibilities span the full software development lifecycle, including requirements, design, coding, debugging, testing, integration, and supporting target hardware. The role uses C++ with Linux or VxWorks and applies software engineering standards, DevSecOps, model-based engineering, and Agile practices. It requires collaboration with customers, suppliers, users, and technical teams and is full-time, on-site in Rolling Meadows, Illinois.

Senior/Principal DevOps Engineers will deliver cloud and infrastructure projects for small, medium-sized, and enterprise clients. Responsibilities include DevOps project delivery, staff augmentation, fractional retainers, and solution consulting using AWS, GCP, Azure, infrastructure-as-code, Kubernetes, Helm, Docker, and scripting languages. Strong communication and project management skills are required. Roles are available full-time or part-time as 1099 contractor engagements for US-based workers.

Systems engineering role supporting EOIR and RFEW systems through design, modeling, simulation, integration, testing, and validation. Responsibilities may include troubleshooting hardware, software, and firmware; developing and executing integration-test plans; performing verification and qualification testing; and collaborating across disciplines. The role is full-time and on-site in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, requires U.S. citizenship and a Secret clearance, and involves approximately 10% travel.

Designs, integrates, tests, validates, and troubleshoots complex electronic sensing, targeting, and tracking systems. Responsibilities may include systems engineering design, modeling and simulation, MBSE, mission modeling, hardware/software/firmware troubleshooting, integration-test planning, verification testing, and cross-functional collaboration. The role is full-time and on-site in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, requires a Secret clearance at start, and involves approximately 10% travel.

Design, build, test, and support EPIC integration solutions across the full interface lifecycle. Gather requirements, resolve integration issues, develop standards and documentation, and provide production support within a remote, volunteer, part-time setup.

Leads manufacturing engineering projects and teams to improve productivity, reduce costs, optimize processes, and support product and process development. Responsibilities include manufacturing methods, tooling, equipment, layouts, CAPEX planning, quotations, resource planning, quality standards, vendor coordination, and continuous improvement. Requires advanced knowledge of Lean and Six Sigma, Theory of Constraints, metallurgy, automation, machining, fabrication, CAD/CAM, and GD&T. Travel is up to 10%.

Own end-to-end DFT architecture, implementation, verification, DRC closure, test coverage, timing constraints, and post-silicon debug for ASICs. Work across Logic BIST, MBIST, BISR, scan compression, Boundary Scan, JTAG, ATPG, and mixed-signal IP integration. Collaborate with architecture, RTL, physical design, and product teams to resolve design and testability issues, automate flows using TCL, support hierarchical integration, and achieve first-pass silicon success.

Leads technical delivery architecture for complex mainframe modernization projects. Designs and implements Rocket Software solutions, manages technical project scope, develops proofs of concept, guides modernization and migration efforts, leads technical teams, communicates risks and requirements, estimates changes, conducts code reviews, and advises customers. The role also supports presentations, training, defect resolution, automation pipelines, DevOps practices, and modernization of COBOL applications and mainframe data.