How to hire a principal technologist

How to hire a principal technologist, step by step

Here's a step-by-step principal technologist 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 technologist job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new principal technologist
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a principal technologist do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a principal technologist, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a principal technologist to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a principal technologist that fits the bill.

   This list shows salaries for various types of principal technologists.

   Type of Principal Technologist	Description	Hourly rate
   Principal Technologist	Computer and information systems managers, often called information technology (IT) managers or IT project managers, plan, coordinate, and direct computer-related activities in an organization. They help determine the information technology goals of an organization and are responsible for implementing computer systems to meet those goals.	$45-78
   Implementation Manager	An implementation manager specializes in introducing new systems, networks, and processes to the entire company workforce. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around overseeing the implementation team to ensure that everything is running smoothly, devising action and work plans, coordinating with different departments, monitoring requisitions and information materials, and verifying their accuracy... Show more	$30-60
   Engagement Manager	The role of engagement managers is to build and maintain strong relations with clients. They are responsible for managing a portfolio of client accounts and assisting clients with existing projects... Show more	$40-72

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Java
   • Cloud
   • Infrastructure
   • Architecture
   • Project Management
   • Hyperion
   • C++
   • C #
   • Emerging Technologies
   • Azure
   • C Net
   • Business Development
   • Linux
   • Application Development

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage the Tru64 UNIX 5.1b, Solaris 2.6, and Solaris 2.8 servers.
   • Manage client lease information and generate reports using SQL and PHP.
   • Manage the daily scrum planning meetings and sprint meetings for scrum teams.
   • Develop checklists management system, to get rid of innumerable Xls files and automate work of QA departments.
   • Lead system conversion/transition to PACS; research, negotiate, and seamlessly implement dual server Philips EasyAccess system.
   • Lead team for first-office deployments of optical access and backhaul systems for Ethernet and IP services, enhancing service offerings.

   More principal technologist duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your principal technologist job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A principal technologist salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a principal technologist in Vermont may be lower than in Oregon, and an entry-level principal technologist usually earns less than a senior-level principal technologist. Additionally, a principal technologist with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average principal technologist salary

   $124,965yearly

   $60.08 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level principal technologist salary

   $95,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 19, 2025

   Average principal technologist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$156,264	$75
   2	Washington	$146,804	$71
   3	Arizona	$129,346	$62
   4	Texas	$126,166	$61
   5	New York	$123,515	$59
   6	District of Columbia	$121,422	$58
   7	New Jersey	$119,090	$57
   8	Massachusetts	$118,740	$57
   9	Pennsylvania	$118,183	$57
   10	Florida	$115,563	$56
   11	Indiana	$113,994	$55
   12	Virginia	$113,928	$55
   13	Delaware	$113,404	$55
   14	Illinois	$112,632	$54
   15	Minnesota	$111,473	$54
   16	North Carolina	$110,363	$53
   17	New Hampshire	$109,634	$53
   18	Missouri	$109,018	$52
   19	Georgia	$108,228	$52
   20	Colorado	$107,842	$52

   Average principal technologist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Airbnb	$185,024	$88.95	1
   2	Pure Storage	$163,673	$78.69	15
   3	Nike	$160,633	$77.23	28
   4	TripActions	$157,142	$75.55
   5	Amazon	$152,004	$73.08	240
   6	Yahoo	$151,935	$73.05
   7	Slalom	$150,517	$72.36	208
   8	Riot Games	$150,221	$72.22	5
   9	ZS	$149,766	$72.00	8
   10	The Walt Disney Company	$149,416	$71.83	213
   11	Cox Automotive	$149,226	$71.74
   12	BP America Inc	$148,236	$71.27
   13	Atlassian	$147,808	$71.06	35
   14	F5	$147,313	$70.82	6
   15	Microsoft	$146,630	$70.50	180
   16	Thoughtworks	$146,587	$70.47
   17	Walmart	$144,891	$69.66	359
   18	Genentech	$144,313	$69.38	48
   19	Take-Two Interactive Software	$141,924	$68.23	3
   20	Calypso Technology	$140,371	$67.49

4. Writing a principal technologist job description

   A job description for a principal technologist 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 technologist job description:

   Principal technologist job description example

   With us, you’ll do meaningful work from Day 1. Our collaborative culture is built on three core behaviors: We Play to Win, We Get Better Every Day & We Succeed Together. And we mean it — we want you to grow and make a difference at one of the world's leading digital banking and payments companies. We value what makes you unique so that you have an opportunity to shine.

   Come build your future, while being the reason millions of people find a brighter financial future with Discover.

   Job Description

   At Discover, be part of a culture where diversity, teamwork and collaboration reign. Join a company that is just as employee-focused as it is on its customers and is consistently awarded for both. We’re all about people, and our employees are why Discover is a great place to work. Be the reason we help millions of consumers build a brighter financial future and achieve yours along the way with a rewarding career.

   Technical Architects at Discover develop technology strategies and future state architectures that enable value streams and product teams to deliver industry differentiating solutions. We combine deep technical domain understanding with a broad view of organizational concerns including business acumen, security, compliance, and product delivery.

   Responsibilities:

   • Designs with PCI / regulatory requirements within their technology and product space

   • Delivers architectures that balance risk, security and operational excellence

   • Services as a thought leader within their domain or product

   • Keeps abreast of industry changes across their product family. Assesses relative merits of technology maturity against Discovers needs

   • Demonstrates deep understanding of technical domain (e.g. compute, network cloud, API, frameworks, etc)

   • Creates big-picture design view of product portfolio

   Minimum Qualifications:

   At a minimum, here’s what we need from you:

   • Bachelors – Computer Science or related

   • 8+ Years – Software Development, Software Engineering, Technical Architecture or related

   • Internal applicants only: technical proficiency rating of proficient on the Dreyfus architecture scale

   Preferred Qualifications

   Bonus Points If You Have:

   • Experience with Openshift/Kubernetes

   • Experience with AWS

   External applicants will be required to perform a technical interview.

   What are you waiting for? Apply today!

   And by the way, while you're waiting to hear from us, don't forget to check out the great benefits Discover offers.

   #LI-MF1 #Remote #BI-Remote

   What are you waiting for? Apply today!

   The same way we treat our employees is how we treat all applicants – with respect. Discover Financial Services is an equal opportunity employer (EEO is the law). We thrive on diversity & inclusion. You will be treated fairly throughout our recruiting process and without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status in consideration for a career at Discover.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right principal technologist for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your principal technologist job on Zippia to find and recruit principal technologist candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting principal technologists 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.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   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 technologist

   Once you've selected the best principal technologist candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is 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 technologist?