What Principal Backend Jobs Ask For
Across 315 open Principal Backend postings that list skills, the ones mentioned most often are cloud, api, ai.
Updated November 3, 2026
328 open Principal Backend postings. The percentages below are measured over the 315 of them that list skills at all.
| Skill | Mentioned in |
|---|---|
| cloud | 67% |
| api | 60% |
| ai | 56% |
| aws | 50% |
| java | 49% |
| python | 45% |
| ci-cd | 41% |
| distributed-systems | 38% |
| microservices | 38% |
| kubernetes | 29% |
| observability | 28% |
| postgresql | 28% |
| gcp | 27% |
| cloud-native | 26% |
| sql | 24% |
| docker | 23% |
| machine-learning | 23% |
| azure | 23% |
| nosql | 22% |
| event-driven-architecture | 22% |
| automation | 20% |
| agile | 20% |
| llm | 19% |
| agentic-ai | 17% |
| devops | 17% |
| redis | 17% |
| rest | 17% |
| api-design | 17% |
| github | 17% |
| kafka | 17% |
| grpc | 16% |
| nodejs | 15% |
| spring | 14% |
| terraform | 14% |
| go | 13% |
| git | 12% |
| infrastructure-as-code | 11% |
| mysql | 11% |
| rdbms | 11% |
| analytics | 10% |
"Mentioned in" counts postings that name the skill anywhere — including as a nice-to-have — so treat it as the ceiling, not the bar.
Browse 328 open Principal Backend jobs →
Across all Backend levels
Most Backend postings never state a level. This wider list covers them too.
- api 20,783
- java 15,196
- cloud 13,821
- aws 11,957
- python 11,633
- ai 11,319
- ci-cd 11,201
- rest 11,063
- microservices 10,000
- docker 9,599
- sql 9,298
- kubernetes 8,976