Principal Software Engineer
Nvidia
Listing collected from Nvidia's career site. NextChapter is independent of Nvidia.
Santa Clara, CA · Posted October 30, 2026
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Where Santa Clara, CA ranks
Where Santa Clara, CA placed in our monthly rankings, month by month. Each month stays online at its own address.
November 2026
- #1Best cities for sales pay after cost of living$175k · of 45
- #1Best cities for product pay after cost of living$224k · of 14
- #2Best cities for operations pay after cost of living$173k · of 41
- #2Best cities for marketing pay after cost of living$192k · of 16
- #2Best all-round cities for remote workers in the West Coast85 / 100 · of 39
- #3Best cities for finance pay after cost of living$156k · of 35
Rankings about engineering jobs
- Best cities for software and engineering jobs #1 San Francisco (3,412 openings)
- Best cities for engineering pay after cost of living #1 San Mateo ($216k)
- Most requested AI skills in engineering jobs #1 AI tools in daily work (6.1%)
- AI tools named most often in engineering jobs #1 Claude (1.7%)
- Employers with the most engineering jobs #1 Amazon (2,992 roles)
Pay compared with the market
This listing does not state pay. Across 51 open principal software engineer listings that state pay, the middle half runs $205,500 to $274,000 and the median is $240,000.
Listed pay is what employers advertise, not what people are paid.
Principal Software Engineer salaries by state · Check your own pay
Skills this job asks for
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About the job
NVIDIA has been transforming computer graphics, PC gaming, and accelerated computing for more than 25 years. It’s a unique legacy of innovation that’s fueled by great technology—and amazing people. Today, we’re tapping into the unlimited potential of AI to define the next era of computing. An era in which our GPU acts as the brains of computers, robots, and self-driving cars that can understand the world. Doing what’s never been done before takes vision, innovation, and the world’s best talent. As an NVIDIAN, you’ll be immersed in an inclusive, supportive environment where everyone is inspired to do their best work. Come join the team and see how you can make a lasting impact on the world.
We are looking to hire a deeply technical, creative, and hands-on Senior full-stack developer to build the next generation AI platforms and products that improve business efficiency and productivity. This engineer is expected to be familiar with concepts of RAG, agentic AI to be able to build AI products using SOTA agentic paradigms, third party platforms and open-source repos. As a key leader in our technology team, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the architecture, development, and scaling of our software systems. This role will give an opportunity to collaborate with Cloud, AI/ML & Generative AI workforce in a multifaceted and agile working environment, while meeting the immediate and evolving needs of our business.
What you’ll be doing:
Hands-on experience with test automation, production testing, and automation frameworks
Solid understanding of Linux, embedded systems, firmware, and hardware/software integration
Integrate agents with enterprise data sources, APIs, and internal microservices to enable real-world actions. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver end-to-end intelligent experiences across applications
Ensure reliability, safety, and performance of autonomous systems operating at scale
Architect and build agentic AI systems that leverage LLMs for reasoning, planning, and tool orchestration across enterprise workflows. Design and implement multi-agent frameworks enabling coordination, delegation, and dynamic task execution
Develop scalable platforms for retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), long-term memory, and contextual reasoning
Build reusable infrastructure for agent orchestration, tool integration, evaluation, and observability
Establish best practices for agent evaluation, guardrails, and human-in-the-loop workflows
Mentor engineers and provide technical leadership in designing complex distributed AI systems
Stay at the forefront of advancements in LLMs, agent frameworks, tool use, reasoning architectures, and open-source ecosystems
What we need to see:
BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science, Electrical/Computer Engineering or related field (or equivalent experience)
15+ years of experience building large-scale distributed systems and cloud-native applications (Python preferred)
Strong experience designing and deploying LLM-powered systems, including RAG, tool use, and agent-based architectures
Deep understanding of agentic AI paradigms (planning, memory, tool invocation, multi-step reasoning)
Experience with agent frameworks and orchestration tools (e.g., LangChain or similar)
Proven ability to design systems with high reliability, scalability, and performance
Hands-on experience deploying applications in Kubernetes environments. Experience building systems in cloud and hybrid environments
Strong programming skills across multiple languages and modern software stacks
Proven track record leading complex technical initiatives and mentoring high-performing teams
Excellent problem-solving, communication, and system design skills
Ways to stand out from the crowd:
Experience enhancing enterprise efficiency and employee experience through the effective use of Generative AI based solutions.
Fascinated by unique and difficult problems - resilient and persistent in the pursuit of solutions.
Experience with Cloud Platforms, experience with Kubernetes and Docker.
Self-motivation and a drive to get things to “done”.
Excellent programming, debugging, performance analysis, and test design skills using python is a plus.
NVIDIA is widely considered to be one of the technology world’s most desirable employers. We have some of the most forward-thinking and hardworking people in the world working for us. If you're creative and autonomous, we want to hear from you!
Your base salary will be determined based on your location, experience, and other objective job-related factors. The expected base salary range for this position is 248,000 USD – 391,000 USD.
You will also be eligible for equity and benefits .
Applications for this job will be accepted at least until November 3, 2026.
This posting is for an existing vacancy.
NVIDIA uses AI tools in its recruiting processes.
NVIDIA is committed to fostering an inclusive work environment and proud to be an equal opportunity employer. As we highly value diversity in our current and future employees, we do not discriminate (including in our hiring and promotion practices) on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status or any other characteristic protected by law.