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Sr Software Engineer II

Principal Financial Group

Multiple U.S. locations · FlexibleJob$127–158K/yrSeen todaySeen in employer's feed today

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At a glance

Compensation
$127–158K/yr
Location
Multiple U.S. locationsFlexible
Work Authorization
Not specified

Olive lists jobs from US employers, including remote roles you can work from the United States.

Job overview

Principal Financial Group is seeking a Senior Software Engineer II to lead development and enhancement of an insurance enrollment and onboarding platform. The role initially supports Ruby on Rails and AWS, with technologies expected to evolve. The engineer will contribute across the software lifecycle, provide technical leadership, and collaborate with product, design, engineering, and business stakeholders. Work arrangements may be in-office, hybrid, or remote subject to residency conditions.

Skills & qualifications

RequiredNice to have

Skills

Solution Architecture, nice to haveScalable Web Applications, nice to haveRuby on Rails, nice to haveReact, nice to haveBackend Frameworks, nice to haveAWS, requiredEnterprise Software Engineering, nice to haveAI Coding Assistants, nice to haveInsurance, nice to haveFinancial Services, nice to haveRegulated Industries, nice to haveProblem Solving, nice to haveCollaboration, nice to haveCoaching, nice to haveMentoring, nice to haveKnowledge Sharing, nice to haveCommunication, nice to have

Qualifications

Associate or Bachelor's Degree or Equivalent Experience, nice to have8+ Years Work Experience or Equivalent, nice to have

Benefits

Paid Time Off
401(k) Match

Full job description

What You'll Do

We’re looking for a Senior Software Engineer II to join our insurance technology team! This is a hands-on, leadership-by-example role for an engineer who cares about building software that makes a real difference. You’ll lead the development and enhancement of capabilities for an insurance platform that supports enrollment and onboarding across insurance products. You’ll help architect systems that simplify access to benefits while modernizing how our team builds software. You’ll initially support a platform built using Ruby on Rails and AWS, with the expectation that our technologies will continue to evolve. We’re looking for someone who brings strong software engineering fundamentals and is comfortable learning, adapting, and working with new technologies as the needs of the platform and business change.

You'll have the opportunity to:

  • Own the design and development of scalable software solutions, contributing across the full development lifecycle from requirements and solution architecture through testing and production

  • Build and enhance applications using Ruby on Rails or similar modern application frameworks and AWS, while remaining adaptable as our technology stack evolves and identifying meaningful opportunities to incorporate AI and agentic AI capabilities.

  • Partner closely with product managers, designers, engineers, and other stakeholders to refine requirements, evaluate technical and product trade-offs, and deliver prioritized roadmap initiatives

  • Provide senior level technical leadership by establishing development approaches, influencing architectural decisions, reviewing code, mentoring engineers, and helping the team solve complex technical problems

  • Own software quality through automated testing, peer code reviews, performance planning, secure coding practices, and reliable CI/CD pipelines

  • Deliver software predictably by developing accurate estimates, communicating progress and risks, and taking accountability for moving projects from requirements through production

Who You Are

  • Associate or bachelor’s degree (preference in a computer science, technology, engineering or math-related field or equivalent experience) and 8+ years’ work experience or equivalent experience

  • Proven experience designing solution architectures and building scalable web applications, ideally with Ruby on Rails and a modern frontend framework such as React. Candidates with strong experience in comparable backend frameworks with the ability to apply that experience effectively in a Rails environment may also be considered.

  • Extensive enterprise-level engineering experience in designing, developing, testing and supporting software applications

  • Strong experience working with AWS cloud-based technology

  • Experience incorporating AI coding assistants (e.g., Cursor, Claude) into daily workflows to enhance delivery speed, test generation, and code quality, backed by rigorous review and validation of AI-generated code

  • Experience within insurance, financial services, or another regulated industry

  • Ability to break down complex problems, reduce ambiguity, and drive solutions forward

  • Strong collaboration skills and experience working across product, engineering, and business teams

  • Committed to continuous learning and enjoy helping other engineers grow through coaching, mentoring, and knowledge sharingStrong communication skills, with the ability to translate technical concepts clearly to business stakeholders and translate business objectives into actionable technical solutions

Salary Range Information

Salary ranges below reflect targeted base salaries. Non-sales positions have the opportunity to participate in a bonus program. Sales positions are eligible for sales incentives, and in some instances a bonus plan, whereby total compensation may far exceed base salary depending on individual performance. Actual compensation for all roles will be based upon geographic location, work experience, education, licensure requirements and/or skill level and will be finalized at the time of offer.

Salary Range (Non-Exempt expressed as hourly; Exempt expressed as yearly)

$127000 - $158000 / year

Time Off Program

Flexible Time Off (FTO) is provided to salaried (exempt) employees and provides the opportunity to take time away from the office with pay for vacation, personal or short-term illness. Employees don’t accrue a bank of time off under FTO and there is no set number of days provided.

Pension Eligible

Yes

Work E nvironments

This role offers in-office, hybrid (blending at least three office days in a typical workweek), and remote work arrangements (only if residing more than 30 miles from Des Moines, IA, or Charlotte, NC). You’ll work with your leader to figure out which option may align best based on several factors.

Our Engineering Culture

Through our product-driven Agile/Lean DevOps environment, we’ve fostered a culture of innovation and experimentation across our development teams. As a customer-focused organization, we work closely with our end users and product owners to understand and rapidly respond to emerging business needs.

Collaboration is embedded into everything we do – from the products we develop to the quality service we provide. We’re driven by the belief that diversity of thought, background, and perspective is critical to creating the best products and experiences for our customers.

Work Authorization/Sponsorship

At this time, we're not considering applicants that need any type of immigration sponsorship (additional work authorization or permanent work authorization) now or in the future to work in the United States. This includes, but IS NOT LIMITED TO: F1-OPT, F1-CPT, H-1B, TN, L-1, J-1, etc. For additional information around work authorization needs please use the following links.

Nonimmigrant Workers (https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/temporary-nonimmigrant-workers) and Green Card for Employment-Based Immigrants (https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-eligibility/green-card-for-employment-based-immigrants)

Investment Code of Ethics

For Principal Asset Management positions, you’ll need to follow an Investment Code of Ethics related to personal and business conduct as well as personal trading activities for you and members of your household. These same requirements may also apply to other positions across the organization.

Experience Principal

At Principal, we value connecting on both a personal and professional level. Together, we’re imagining a more purpose-led future for financial services – and that starts with you. Our success depends on the unique experiences, backgrounds, and talents of our employees. And we support our employees the same way we support our customers: with comprehensive, competitive benefit offerings crafted to protect their physical, financial, and social well-being. Check out our careers site (https://www.principal.com/about-us/careers) to learn more about our purpose, values and benefits.

Principal is an Equal Opportunity Employer

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.

Posting Window

We will accept applications for 3 full days following the Original Posting Date, after which the posting may remain open or be removed based upon applications received. If we choose to post the job again, we will accept additional applications for at least 1 full day following the Most Recently Posted Date. Please submit applications in a timely manner as there is no guarantee the posting will be available beyond the applicable deadline.

Original Posting Date

11/11/2026

Most Recently Posted Date

11/11/2026

Principal uses artificial intelligence tools to assist in reviewing and evaluating job applications, fraud prevention, and candidate matching and comparisons. These AI tools support our human recruiters in the initial review process but do not make final hiring decisions without human involvement. By submitting your application, you acknowledge this use of AI in our recruitment process. Please review our Workforce (U.S.) Privacy Notice (https://secure02.principal.com/publicvsupply/GetFile?fm=WW962&ty=VOP) for more details on our practices and your data privacy rights.

LinkedIn Remote Hashtag

#LI-Remote

LinkedIn Hashtag

#LI-EW1

How this job compares

Set against the 39,832 open Software Engineer jobs on Olive Jobs, counted November 13, 2026.

Pay
  • This posting$127–158K/yr
  • Iowa median$106–205K/yr265 salary ranges
  • US median$132–214K/yr31,908 salary ranges

This range's midpoint, $143K, is 6% below the Iowa median midpoint ($151K) — in the middle half of Software Engineer salary ranges in Iowa.

Openings
Olive Jobs lists 310 open Software Engineer jobs in Iowa and 39,832 across the US. 8% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
Hiring the most in Iowa
Experience
Software Engineer postings that state a minimum ask for 5 years of experience at the median; the middle half ask for 3 to 7 years (32,800 postings).
Education
12,437 of the 39,832 open Software Engineer jobs (31%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.

Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on November 13, 2026. Pay medians are the middle values of the low ends and of the high ends of postings that list both ends of a range in the same cadence (a yearly salary or an hourly rate); a range's midpoint is halfway between its ends. Pay and experience figures resting on fewer than 20 postings are left out.

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