Principal Engineer

About the role :

The Principal Engineer role is a highly strategic position, operating at the same level as an Engineering Director. In the Developer Platform organization, you will be responsible for defining and executing the technical strategy for multiple key systems/technical areas that are of significant impact to the company's Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), developer experience, and core engineering productivity.

The scope and impact of your work will span the interactions among multiple complex systems and engineering organizations, focusing on the end-to-end flow of software delivery, scaling Developer Platforms & Infrastructure, and leveraging AI to revolutionize productivity. You will sit at the center of driving these critical improvements, ensuring the platform scales to meet the company's growth.

Your primary focus will be problem seeking. This involves not only defining plans for ambiguous problems (e.g., "How do we scale our platform 10x while reducing costs?") but also identifying problems crucial for the future of engineering productivity and proposing plans for their resolution, such as the strategic integration of AI/ML into core developer workflows.

What you’ll do

Your responsibilities will encompass technical leadership, strategic delivery and people growth with a focus on cross-functional impact across the Developer Platform and the wider Engineering organization:

• Platform Strategy and AI-Powered Productivity
• Define the long-term technical vision (3+ years) for the Developer Platform, including core infrastructure, CI/CD pipelines, and observability systems, ensuring they are cohesive and sustainable.
• Pioneer the integration of AI/ML not just for engineering tasks but to drive overall company productivity, transforming internal processes and tools.
• Identify and translate a future business opportunity or engineering productivity gap into a solvable, multi-quarter technical problem with a clear roadmap.
• Drive significant improvements in engineering velocity and quality by identifying and solving bottlenecks within the software development process and continually introducing innovation.
• Technical Leadership and Standards
• Apply domain expertise across multiple system domains (e.g., CI/CD, Observability, Cloud Infrastructure, Tooling) to drive future-proof, high-leverage platform solutions.
• Set standards for quality, structure, and operational excellence across all core platform systems.
• Be a Consensus Builder, resolving conflicting priorities and mitigating risks across dependent engineering teams.
• Take end-to-end ownership of complex, cross-cutting projects (10-18 engineers' effort) from inception to operation.
• Engineering Influence & Growth:
• Drive and influence collaboration across the entire Engineering organization, establishing a unified software development vision.
• Act as a company ambassador through significant external contributions (e.g., open-source, publications, standards committees).
• Master the craft of coaching, mentoring Staff Engineers for Principal-level impact, and raising the hiring bar

About You

• Typically 18+ years of industry experience in Software Engineering, with a significant focus on Developer Platforms, Infrastructure, or Core Tools.
• Demonstrated ability to function at a level equivalent to an Engineering Director in terms of strategic impact, scope of influence, and technical ownership.
• A proven track record of identifying, defining, and driving the technical strategy for high-impact initiatives across multiple complex, multi-organizational systems.
• Deep expertise in a general-purpose programming language (e.g., Go, Java, C/C++, Scala, Python) and mastery in applying first principles thinking—actively questioning assumptions to create new knowledge and solutions for core engineering problems.
• Exceptional skills as a Consensus Builder and Cross-Functional Leader, adept at navigating conflicting priorities and influencing stakeholders across various teams to achieve a unified vision.
• Experience in architecting and scaling highly available, fault-tolerant Developer Platforms and Infrastructure.
• A demonstrable understanding of how to strategically leverage AI/ML to improve software development processes and overall company productivity.
• Ability to act as an effective coach and mentor, supporting the growth of engineers up to the Staff level.
• Capable of self-directing, managing time, and advocating for resources for activities that are critical for the company's future engineering velocity and platform stability.