Principal Engineer
First seen by Alion on Oct 26, 2026.
College Board - Technology
Location: This is a fully remote role. Candidates who live near CB offices have the option of being fully remote or hybrid (Tuesday and Wednesday in office).
Type: This is a full-time position
About the Team
College Board Technology teams have a key role to play in the organization’s ability to deliver against its strategic priorities. To do this most effectively, we’ve developed a culture around a set of principles. In Technology, we are organized as teams dedicated to products. And we say products, not projects because in software, projects are subject to abandonware, but products get better over time. They get better because we wake up every day thinking about how to improve our products.
Engineers and architects at College Board exist as a group of poly skilled professionals working in swarms. And, while we may help to mentor and guide others, our critical work is to code, not manage. Our goal is to free creativity by removing dependencies between teams and we do that architecturally and infrastructurally so that one team’s innovation is not burdensome to other teams. We also make war on administrivia and context switching. This approach relies on our ability to hire, retain, and engage skilled talent.
We are committed to remaining current with new technologies, and this requires a focus on learning and development. We challenge all engineers and architects to keep learning because we know technology will not stop changing, and we are committed to supporting this growth. We’ll either fall behind or keep learning for the rest of our careers. We also know that elite technologists don’t want to work in backwaters, so we never again want to fall far behind in the technology we use.
About the Opportunity
As the Principal Engineer, you will demonstrate success leading large, strategic, or complex areas that have clear impact to the domain. You are a highly skilled, experienced, and motivated Engineering Leader who will own setting architectural direction for a broader domain; help evolve systems toward it; and be able to influence and deliver initiatives with organizational impact and priority. Your expertiseand desire to maintain awareness and knowledge of the emerging technology trends within the industry will help support the College Board’s products.
Strategy & Design Leadership (60%)
- Set architectural direction for domains and systems.
- Deliver upon initiatives with organizational impact.
- Define technical strategy that improves products, infrastructure, security, processes, and organization, while staying abreast of risks and opportunities that influence strategy.
- Design and implement systems and frameworks that can succeed in the long-term.
- Provide exceptional leadership and technical innovations to features that span boundaries across engineering teams.
- Be a great partner, working across technical teams to build sustainable contracts looking out for the good of system vs. what might be easiest for a sole product.
- Work closely with development teams, product management, and other stakeholders to ensure that architecture supports the needs of all business units.
- Foster strong working relationships with other technologists outside our team.
- Work closely with Enterprise Architecture, DevOps, Infrastructure, and Security teams to ensure that the architecture integrates smoothly with all parts of the technology ecosystem.
- Ability to lead cross-functional teams, influence decision-making, and mentor developers.
- Play a critical role in coaching and mentoring junior engineers.
- Contribute content and facilitation for the Full Stack Technical Education program.
- Support recruiting and hiring for various engineering teams and positions.
- 10+ years of experience in software systems, programming, database development, and infrastructure development and administration.
- A degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or similar experience with fundamentals
- A track record of influencing and delivering initiatives with organizational impact.
- An aptitude for directly engaging clients and users to gain strong understanding of their holistic needs.
- An orientation towards teaching and developing junior employees.
- A collaborative mindset prioritizing team success over individual accolades.
- Passion for working in an iterative development environment.
- Ability to solve complex problems using divergent thinking resulting in innovative solutions.
- Authorization to work in the United States without sponsorship.
- An ability to break down complex initiatives into simple systems.
- Evaluate and recommend tools, technologies, and processes to ensure the continuous improvement of software systems.
- Deep technical domain knowledge: apps, services, systems, or frameworks
- Strong knowledge and hands-on experience with a growing set of languages, with experience in JavaScript (especially React and Node), Python, and TypeScript
- Strong knowledge of the AWS cloud platform and experience working with AWS resources such as Lambda, SNS, SQS, S3, Kinesis, Step Functions, IAM, CloudWatch, CloudTrail, DynamoDB
- Application review will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled
- While the hiring process may vary, it generally includes: resume and application submission, recruiter phone/video screen, hiring manager interview, performance exercise such as live coding, a panel interview, a conversation with leadership and reference checks.
College Board offers a competitive benefits and compensation program that attracts top talent looking to make a difference in education. As a self-sustaining non-profit, we believe in compensating employees equitably in relation to each other, their qualifications, their impact, and the relevant market.
The hiring range for a new employee in this position is $220,000to $230,000.
College Board differentiates salaries by location so where you live will narrow the portion of this range in which you can expect a salary. Your salary will be carefullydetermined based on your location, relevant experience, the external labor market, and the pay of College Board employees in similar roles.College Board strives to provide our best offer up front based onthis criteria.
Your salary is only one part of all that College Board offers, including but not limited to:
- A comprehensive package designed to support the well-being of employees and their families and promote education. Our robust benefits package includes health, dental, and vision insurance, generous paid time off, paid parental leave, fertility benefits, pet insurance, tuition assistance, retirement benefits, and more
- Recognition of exceptional performance through annual bonuses, salary growth over time through market increases, and opportunities for merit raises and promotions based on increased scope of responsibility
- A job that matters, a team that cares, and a place to learn, innovate and thrive
You can expect to have transparent conversations about benefits and compensation with our recruiters throughout your application process.
About Our Culture
Our community matters, and we strive to practice and improve our culture daily. Here are some headlines:
- We are motivated to positively impact the educational and career trajectories of millions of students a year
- We prioritize building a diverse and inclusive team where every employee can thrive, and every voice is heard
- We welcome staff to join any or all six of our affinity groups: ARISE (Alliance for Asian Retention, Inclusion, Success, and Engagement; DIASPORA (Alliance for Pan-African Success and Achievement); Pride (alliance for LGBTQ+ staff and allies); Resilience (alliance for Native staff and advocates); SALSA (Staff Alliance for Latinx Success and Achievement); and WIN (Women’s Impact Network)
- We value learning and growth; we offer formal and informal ways to lead through your superpowers, sharpen your strengths, and meet your development goals
- We offer a transparent approach to promotions and merit raises, annual performance-based bonuses, and how to grow your career here over time
- Our high-performing engineers work with the latest technologies, so you will be constantly learning and sharpening your skills
- We have a lot of fun bringing wild ideas to life at Hack Day!
Originally posted on Himalayas