Principal Software Engineer - 90251611 - Washington

Amtrak; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 125,000 - 161,000; Full time

Job summary

Amtrak is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to design, develop, and deliver scalable enterprise applications in a Washington, DC environment. The role emphasizes AWS cloud architecture, API development, Amazon Bedrock, and Appian workflow automation, collaborating with product owners and cross-functional teams.

The successful candidate will lead full-stack development, drive secure engineering practices, and deliver high-performance cloud-native solutions across platforms and services.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education, training and/or relevant experience.
• Plus 7 years of relevant work experience.
• Active AWS Associate certification.

Responsibilities

• Lead software development with clear requirements, documented methodology and unit testing.
• Collaborate with architects and security teams to ensure scalable, secure designs.
• Integrate applications with enterprise systems and external services.
• Design cloud-native solutions using AWS services and best practices.
• Develop APIs and automation workflows across teams.

Skills

Full stack development

API design

Cloud architecture

Security best practices

AWS knowledge

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent

Tools

AWS

API Gateway

Lambda

ECS/EKS

S3

DynamoDB

RDS

Bedrock

Appian

Job description

Principal Software Engineer - 90251611 - Washington

Date: Sep 21, 2026

Location: Washington, DC, US, 20001

Company: Amtrak

Your success is a train ride away!

As we move America’s workforce toward the future, Amtrak connects businesses and communities across the country. We employ more than 20,000 diverse, energetic professionals in a variety of career fields throughout the United States. The safety of our passengers, our employees, the public and our operating environment is our priority, and the success of our railroad is due to our employees.

Are you ready to join our team?

Our values of ‘Do the Right Thing, Excel Together and Put Customers First’ are at the heart of what matters most to us, and our Core Capabilities, ‘Building Trust, Accountability, Effective Communication, Customer Focus, and Proactive Safety & Security’ are what every employee needs to know and do to be most impactful at Amtrak. By living the Amtrak values, focusing on our capabilities, and actively embracing and fostering diverse ideas, backgrounds, and perspectives, together we will honor our past and make Amtrak a company of the future.

Job Summary

We are seeking a highly motivated Full Stack Engineer with expertise in AWS Cloud Architecture, API Development, Amazon Bedrock, and Appian to design, develop, and deliver scalable enterprise applications. The ideal candidate will have strong experience building cloud-native solutions, developing secure and high-performance APIs, implementing AI-powered applications using Amazon Bedrock, and delivering workflow automation solutions through the Appian low-code platform. The role requires close collaboration with product owners, architects, business stakeholders, and cross-functional engineering teams to deliver innovative, secure, and scalable solutions.

Essential Functions

• Lead software development, ensuring clear requirements, documented methodology, and unit testing to deliver code as designed; design sustainable architecture.
• Evaluate operational feasibility through analysis, problem definition, requirements, and solution development; lead technical direction and decisions.
• Collaborate with enterprise architects and infrastructure teams to integrate applications and hardware, ensuring designs and implementations meet security and QA standards.
• Maintain updated documentation for architectures, designs, and system descriptions; ensure development teams adhere to standards for methodologies, integration, tools, and testing.
• Prepare and install solutions by designing system specifications and standards, follow Information Security standards, and provide technical guidance, reports, and presentations for senior management.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent combination of education, training and/or relevant experience.
• Plus 7 years of relevant work experience.
• Active AWS Associate certification

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent combination of education, training and/or relevant experience.
• Plus 9 years of relevant work experience.
• Active Solution Architecture Professional certification

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

Full Stack Development

• Design, develop, and maintain scalable web applications using modern front-end and back-end technologies.
• Build responsive user interfaces and integrate them with backend services and APIs.
• Develop reusable, maintainable, and high-quality code following engineering best practices.
• Participate in architecture reviews, code reviews, and technical design discussions.
• Design and implement cloud-native solutions leveraging AWS services.
• Develop scalable, resilient, and secure architectures following AWS Well-Architected Framework principles.
• Build serverless and microservices-based applications using services such as:
  • AWS Lambda
  • API Gateway
  • ECS/EKS
  • S3
  • DynamoDB
  • RDS
  • EventBridge
  • SQS/SNS
• Monitor and optimize cloud infrastructure for performance, cost, and reliability.

API Development & Integration

• Design and develop RESTful and event-driven APIs.
• Implement API security, authentication, authorization, rate limiting, and monitoring.
• Develop integration solutions connecting enterprise systems and third-party applications.
• Optimize API performance and scalability.

Amazon Bedrock & Generative AI

• Design and develop GenAI applications using Amazon Bedrock.
• Integrate foundation models into enterprise applications.
• Implement Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), prompt engineering, model orchestration, and AI-powered workflows.
• Apply AI governance, responsible AI practices, and data security controls.
• Collaborate with business stakeholders to identify and implement AI use cases.

Appian Development

• Design and implement Appian applications, workflows, and business process automation solutions.
• Develop Appian interfaces, process models, integrations, and business rules.
• Integrate Appian applications with enterprise systems and APIs.
• Participate in Appian platform administration, deployment, and performance optimization activities.
• Support CI/CD pipeline implementation and automation.
• Implement infrastructure as code using Terraform or CloudFormation.
• Participate in production support and incident resolution.
• Apply security and compliance best practices throughout the SDLC.

Environmental Conditions/Physical Demands

The salary/hourly range is $124,600.00 – $161,352.00. Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to education, work experience, certifications, etc. Depending on an employee’s assigned worksite or location, Amtrak may consider a geo-pay differential to be applied to the employee’s base salary. Amtrak may offer additional incentive and pay programs to recognize and reward our employees, including a short-term incentive bonus based upon factors such as individual and company performance that is commensurate with the level of the position.

Health and Wellbeing Financial and Retirement Work and Family Life Support

Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance 401K with Employer Match Generous Paid Time Off

Wellness Programs Railroad Retirement Benefits Paid Caregiving Days and Backup Care

Health Savings Account Public Service Student Loan Forgiveness Fertility and Family Building Benefits

No-cost Personal Health Advocate Student Loan Assistance Adoption and Surrogacy Assistance

Medical Plan Opt-out Credit Tuition and Education Reimbursement Paid Family Leave

Life Insurance Rail Pass Privileges

Short- and Long-term Disability Insurance Employee Assistance Program

No-cost Financial Advisor Sessions Commuter and Flexible Spending Accounts

Requisition ID:167178

Work Arrangement:06-Onsite 4/5 Days

Relocation Offered:No

Travel Requirements:Up to 25%

You power our progress through your performance.

We want your work at Amtrak to be more than a job. We want your career at Amtrak to be a fulfilling experience where you find challenging work, rewarding opportunities, respect among colleagues, and attractive compensation. Amtrak maintains a culture that values high performance and recognizes individual employee contributions.

Amtrak is committed to a safe workplace free of drugs and alcohol. All Amtrak positions requires a pre-employment background check that includes prior employment verification, a criminal history check and a pre-employment drug screen.

Candidates who test positive for marijuana will be disqualified, regardless of any state or local statute, ordinance, regulation, or other law that legalizes or decriminalizes the use or possession of marijuana, whether for medical, recreational, or other use. Amtrak's pre-employment drug testing program is administered in accordance with DOT regulations and applicable law.

In accordance with DOT regulations (49 CFR § 40.25), Amtrak is required to obtain prior drug and alcohol testing records for applicants/employees intending to perform safety-sensitive duties for covered Department of Transportation positions. If an applicant/employee refuses to provide written consent for Amtrak to obtain these records, the individual will not be permitted to perform safety-sensitive functions.

In accordance with federal law governing security checks of covered individuals for providers of public transportation (Title 6 U.S.C. §1143), Amtrak is required to screen applicants for any permanent or interim disqualifying criminal offenses.

Note that any education requirement listed above may be deemed satisfied if you have an equivalent combination of education, training and experience.

Amtrak is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race/color, to include traits historically associated with race, including but not limited to, hair texture and hairstyles such as braids, locks and twists, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth and related conditions, such as lactation), national origin/ethnicity, disability (intellectual, mental and physical), veteran status, marital status, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, genetic information, citizenship or any other personal characteristics protected by law.