How to hire a principal network engineer

How to hire a principal network engineer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step principal network engineer hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a principal network engineer job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new principal network engineer
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a principal network engineer do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your principal network engineer job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a principal network engineer for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A principal network engineer's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, principal network engineers from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   Here's a comparison of principal network engineer salaries for various roles:

   Type of Principal Network Engineer	Description	Hourly rate
   Principal Network Engineer	Computer networks are critical parts of almost every organization. Network and computer systems administrators are responsible for the day-to-day operation of these networks.	$41-69
   Network Support Analyst	Network support analysts are professionals who provide technical support as well as maintain various network components for an organization's network system. These analysts are responsible for installing and configuring local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), internet systems, and other components of network systems... Show more	$25-61
   Network Operations Manager	Network operations managers are information technology (IT) professionals who are responsible for managing the operation and stability of an organization's network. These managers usually work with local area networks (LAN) or sometimes with wide area networks (WAN), where information can be shared in a building or between different locations... Show more	$34-65

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Linux
   • Lan Wan
   • Network Infrastructure
   • VPN
   • Network Performance
   • Firewall
   • Network Architecture
   • Lan
   • Switches
   • OSPF
   • BGP
   • Juniper
   • F5
   • DOD

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Lead SIGTRAN (SS7 over IP) software porting and system integration on Linux.
   • Lead architecture and design sessions with customers; initiate technical meetings with customer engineers to further engage and identify additional opportunities.
   • Perform all engineering duties including test and turn up of all WAN/LAN/WLAN & VoIP LAN for each office space.
   • Used Simena traffic emulators to stress test network equipment by pushing multi-protocol data frames including BGP routing protocols and IPv6.
   • Install and configure Cisco ASA firewalls.
   • Use of BGP dual-home ISP peering networks.

   More principal network engineer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your principal network engineer job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A principal network engineer salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, principal network engineers' average salary in indiana is 41% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level principal network engineers earn 41% less than senior-level principal network engineers.
   • Certifications. A principal network engineer with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a principal network engineer's salary.

   Average principal network engineer salary

   $112,094yearly

   $53.89 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level principal network engineer salary

   $86,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 19, 2026

   Average principal network engineer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$154,219	$74
   2	Washington	$140,181	$67
   3	Nevada	$126,225	$61
   4	Rhode Island	$123,388	$59
   5	Connecticut	$122,990	$59
   6	Oregon	$116,067	$56
   7	New York	$110,113	$53
   8	Massachusetts	$106,021	$51
   9	Texas	$105,806	$51
   10	New Mexico	$104,391	$50
   11	Maryland	$104,094	$50
   12	Georgia	$101,137	$49
   13	Arizona	$100,818	$48
   14	Louisiana	$98,828	$48
   15	South Carolina	$98,665	$47
   16	Mississippi	$97,453	$47
   17	North Carolina	$96,506	$46
   18	Illinois	$95,464	$46
   19	Nebraska	$95,180	$46
   20	Michigan	$95,134	$46

   Average principal network engineer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Walmart	$155,082	$74.56	141
   2	Über	$149,228	$71.74	24
   3	Amazon	$146,521	$70.44	716
   4	Foundation Medicine	$144,060	$69.26
   5	Zynga	$141,393	$67.98	2
   6	Bloomberg	$141,374	$67.97	16
   7	Intuit	$139,174	$66.91	99
   8	Panasonic Avionics	$138,485	$66.58	2
   9	Wayfair	$138,379	$66.53	1
   10	Roblox	$137,316	$66.02	56
   11	Ampere	$135,397	$65.09
   12	Constant Contact	$135,153	$64.98
   13	Yahoo	$133,560	$64.21
   14	Fox News	$133,176	$64.03
   15	Dell	$131,670	$63.30	61
   16	Zillow Group	$130,081	$62.54	3
   17	Target	$129,402	$62.21	44
   18	CyberCoders	$129,281	$62.15
   19	OCC	$126,430	$60.78	27
   20	Edwards Lifesciences	$126,301	$60.72	64

4. Writing a principal network engineer job description

   A job description for a principal network engineer role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a principal network engineer job description:

   Principal network engineer job description example

   Our client, a global SaaS Security organization, has an immediate need for a Principal Network Engineer to join its Reston, VA based operations. This is a direct-hire position. Candidates must be willing to go into office (or to datacenter) +/- 60% of the week.
   Responsibilities
   Deploy, automate manage various technologies Assist in the operational and deployment of all network infrastructure combining the tasks of a software engineer with a network engineering skill set to deliver key projects and networking solutions across the globe Assist in operational aspects of the team's daily workload Assist in ongoing datacenter migrations Assist in new network deployments across all technologies when needed Be a part of continuous improvements efforts to help develop SOT and integrate with CMDB Maintain existing tool sets and develop automation strategy to maintain cohesive set from our SOT Develop network automation and orchestration to scale business solutions Build and deploy the network through a DevNetOps pipeline Act as an escalation point for network team Represent network team for local office needs
   Requirements
   Passion for networking, with experience in orchestrated Configuration Management Infrastructure-as-Code Technical acumen in Ansible, Python, Terraform, Jenkins Experience with networking tools that do the following: Network telemetry, monitoring, and logging Network performance engineering IP Address Management Network Management Competent in the use of Cisco ISE building NAC frameworks for the entire organization
   
   About Vivo
   
   Having been in business since 2006, Vivo is a full-service recruiting and consulting company, specializing on mid to senior level technology resources. Our brand promise is simple: we get people. We get that our clients don t want to waste time, and that our candidates and employees thrive when given honest feedback and an opportunity to grow.
   
   Whether you re onsite at our Pleasanton headquarters or working for one of Vivo s clients the best brand names out there our promise to you is unwavering: we will treat you like you are our most important employee.
   
   Do you think you get people get what they really need, and get how to deliver? We re not perfect but we re accountable. We re not in 32 countries, but we are in the heart of it all. So, if you are looking for a flexible, fun and high-energy work environment, along with the opportunity to work with some of the world s technology leaders, we can t wait to talk to you.
   
   Vivo We Get People!

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find principal network engineers for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your principal network engineer job on Zippia to find and attract quality principal network engineer candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as dice, engineering.com, stack overflow, it job pro.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting principal network engineers requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

   While interviews are great, you will only sometimes learn enough from a conversation with a principal network engineer applicant. In those cases, having candidates complete a test project can go a long way in figuring out who's the most likely to succeed in the role. If you aren't a technical person and don't know how to design an appropriate test, you can ask someone else on the team to create it or take a look at these websites to get a few ideas:

   • TestDome
   • CodeSignal
   • Testlify
   • BarRaiser
   • Coderbyte

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new principal network engineer

   Once you've decided on a perfect principal network engineer candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new principal network engineer. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a principal network engineer?