Principal Software Engineer

Quick Facts

• Role: Principal Software Engineer (technical leadership)

Description

Lead technical direction across complex systems and projects, architecting scalable, fault-tolerant solutions and designing service and API architectures for long-term maintainability. Work hands-on with cloud-native technologies and partner with teams and stakeholders to align engineering delivery with business needs. Coach and elevate engineers while acting as a trusted technical advisor in high-stakes situations.

Responsibilities

• Define and lead technical direction across complex systems, projects, or client engagements

• Architect scalable, fault-tolerant solutions that solve real business problems

• Design and deliver APIs and service architectures

• Set and uphold engineering standards for reliability, testability, performance, and security

• Guide multiple teams through ambiguous technical challenges and trade-offs

• Collaborate cross-functionally with product, design, and business stakeholders

• Coach, mentor, and drive best practices

• Advise clients during high-stakes, ambiguous technical situations

• Identify emerging technologies and evaluate them for real-world use

• Occasionally prototype or run technical spikes to de-risk delivery

Requirements

• 8+ years of professional software engineering experience

• Proven technical leadership: lead teams or multiple teams, set direction, coach others, and own outcomes

• Deep experience building and operating distributed systems, microservices, or high-scale platforms

• Expertise in cloud environments (AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud Platform) and cloud-native design patterns

• Strong working knowledge of containerization, orchestration, and CI/CD pipelines

• Proven experience designing and consuming RESTful APIs, GraphQL, and service-layer architectures

• Backend experience with Python, Java, Node.js, or .NET (ability to pick up new stacks)

• Comfort working in agile environments with cross-functional teams

• Consulting mindset: clarity in ambiguity and delivery of value

• Exceptional written and verbal communication to influence through clarity

Benefits

• Competitive salary (base range estimated between $140,000 and $170,000+)

• Unlimited PTO

• Best-in-class health/vision/dental benefits

• Generous 401K options

• Paid parental leave

• Opportunity to be a key player in a fast-growing consulting firm

• High internal mobility and diverse project opportunities

• Equal Opportunity Employer; all qualified applicants receive consideration regardless of protected status