Principal Engineer, Software Engineering

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, which manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Principal Engineer, Software Engineering based in the United States. As a Principal Engineer, you will shape the architecture, development, and evolution of critical enterprise software platforms that support digital transformation. You will lead complex engineering initiatives from initial problem discovery and system design through implementation, deployment, and ongoing production support. Working across application development, backend services, data engineering, and platform integrations, you will build secure, scalable, and reliable solutions that deliver measurable business value. You will embrace AI-driven development practices, using advanced tools and coding agents to accelerate delivery while maintaining rigorous standards for quality, security, and correctness. Collaborating with product, design, data, security, and infrastructure teams, you will turn ambiguous business challenges into practical technical solutions. As a senior technical leader, you will influence architectural decisions, establish engineering best practices, and mentor engineers across the organization. This remote opportunity offers the autonomy to drive meaningful technical change within an innovative, collaborative environment that values engineering excellence and continuous learning.

End-to-end engineering leadership: Lead complex software initiatives from understanding user needs and business objectives through architecture, implementation, deployment, production support, and continuous improvement. Translate ambiguous requirements into actionable technical plans, balancing business priorities, engineering constraints, long-term maintainability, and delivery timelines. Software architecture and development: Design, build, and evolve secure, scalable, and maintainable solutions across web applications, backend services, APIs, Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers and integrations, data pipelines, and platform services. Contribute to application and service development using technologies such as Next.js, JavaScript, TypeScript, and Golang, while adapting to other appropriate languages and frameworks. Develop and maintain data-driven systems involving dbt, Snowflake, PostgreSQL, relational databases, and enterprise integrations. AI-driven software development: Integrate AI tools and coding agents throughout the software development lifecycle to accelerate research, technical exploration, implementation, refactoring, testing, documentation, and operational analysis. Review, test, validate, and secure AI-assisted outputs, ensuring that all delivered software meets established standards for correctness, reliability, security, and performance. Improve AI-driven development practices by refining tools, prompts, guardrails, and workflows that enhance team productivity without compromising engineering quality. Technical quality and reliability: Lead architecture and code reviews, establish engineering standards, and promote best practices for secure development, automated testing, continuous integration, deployment automation, observability, and containerization. Identify and address technical risks, including fragile integrations, poor data quality, unclear ownership, security vulnerabilities, operational blind spots, and accumulating technical debt. Improve system reliability through effective debugging, root cause analysis, performance optimization, and continuous production monitoring. Data engineering and integrity: Design and improve database schemas, data pipelines, migrations, and queries to ensure data quality, integrity, performance, and consistency across connected systems. Establish appropriate validation practices and controls to protect critical data and support dependable business reporting and operational processes. Cross-functional collaboration: Partner with Product, Design, Data, Security, Infrastructure, and business stakeholders to define requirements, evaluate trade-offs, and deliver solutions aligned with organizational objectives. Communicate technical decisions, architectural considerations, risks, and implementation plans clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences. Technical strategy and mentorship: Shape engineering roadmaps, influence platform strategy, and contribute to decisions that extend beyond individual projects or teams. Mentor engineers, share technical knowledge, encourage continuous learning, and help establish a culture of ownership, accountability, collaboration, and engineering excellence. Identify opportunities to simplify systems, improve development efficiency, and introduce technologies and practices that create sustainable long-term value. Requirements: Professional experience: At least eight years of experience building and operating software systems, with ten or more years preferred. Demonstrated success leading significant engineering initiatives from conception through production is essential. Principal-level engineering judgment: Proven ability to simplify complex problems, evaluate architectural alternatives, recognize fragile or inefficient solutions, communicate trade-offs, and make decisions that remain effective in production. Modern application development: Strong experience developing web applications and backend services, particularly with Next.js, JavaScript or TypeScript, and Golang. Equivalent experience with Java, C#, Python, Ruby, Elixir, Kotlin, or other modern technologies is also valuable. Data engineering and databases: Strong knowledge of relational database systems, data engineering practices, schema design, query optimization, database migrations, and data quality and integrity. Experience with dbt, Snowflake, and PostgreSQL is particularly relevant. AI-assisted development: Demonstrated proficiency with AI-powered development tools or coding agents, including their use for research, implementation, refactoring, automated testing, and documentation. The ability to independently verify outputs, identify limitations, and maintain responsibility for delivered code is essential. Software architecture: A strong foundation in designing secure, scalable, resilient, and maintainable systems across applications, services, APIs, data platforms, and integrations. DevOps and engineering practices: Experience with automated testing, continuous integration and delivery, deployment automation, observability, containerization, production debugging, and secure software development. Security and reliability: Ability to identify vulnerabilities, assess technical risks, improve system resilience, and establish safeguards that support reliable software operations. Technical adaptability: A stack-agnostic mindset, with the ability to learn unfamiliar technologies quickly and select appropriate tools based on business needs, technical requirements, and long-term sustainability. Communication skills: Excellent written and verbal communication, including the ability to articulate technical intent precisely, explain complex concepts clearly, and collaborate effectively with engineers, business stakeholders, and AI-powered tools. Leadership and mentorship: Demonstrated ability to influence technical decisions, guide engineering teams, conduct constructive code and architecture reviews, and help other engineers improve their skills and judgment. Strategic thinking: Ability to connect technical decisions with business outcomes, balance immediate delivery needs against long-term architectural goals, and identify opportunities for innovation and process improvement. Ownership and accountability: A proactive, detail-oriented approach to engineering, with a commitment to testing, securing, maintaining, and supporting solutions throughout their lifecycle. Collaborative mindset: Comfort working in a dynamic, innovation-focused environment where engineers share ideas, adopt emerging technologies, challenge assumptions, and continuously improve development practices. Location: Must be based in the United States and eligible for employment under applicable requirements. Benefits: Competitive annual compensation: $180,000–$200,000 in on-target earnings (OTE), including base salary and any applicable target bonus. Actual compensation may vary according to experience, qualifications, and geographic location. Remote work: A fully remote opportunity offering flexibility and the ability to collaborate with distributed teams. Medical coverage: Medical, dental, and vision insurance for eligible employees. Retirement savings: Access to a 401(k) plan. Paid time off: Paid company holidays and paid time off to support work-life balance. Family support: Paid parental and caregiver leave. Professional development: Opportunities for cross-functional training, continued learning, and professional certification support. Technology and innovation: Work with modern engineering tools and technologies in an environment that encourages experimentation, practical innovation, and continuous improvement. Technical influence: The opportunity to shape architecture, engineering standards, AI-assisted development practices, and technical strategy across important enterprise platforms. Collaborative culture: Join an experienced team that values diverse perspectives, knowledge sharing, inclusion, accountability, and mutual respect. Career growth: Opportunities to expand technical leadership, mentor engineers, and influence engineering practices beyond individual projects. Additional benefits: Further information about employee benefits is available through the employer's benefits resources.