Principal Software Engineer

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Principal Software Engineer based in the United States.

This is the highest-level individual contributor engineering role, with technical influence spanning products, platforms, and engineering teams.
You’ll tackle the organization’s most consequential technical challenges, turning ambiguity into clear direction and measurable outcomes.
The role combines hands-on engineering with architecture, technical strategy, mentoring, and cross-functional leadership.
You’ll simplify complex systems, strengthen engineering practices, and create scalable foundations that are easier to operate and evolve.
Working closely with senior business and technology leaders, you’ll influence decisions without relying on formal authority.
Your impact will extend beyond the code you write by making teams more effective and enabling faster, higher-quality execution.
In a remote-first, high-ownership environment, you’ll also use AI as a core part of how you think, build, solve problems, and ship.

• Lead the engineering initiatives that have the greatest business and technical impact, defining success criteria and driving complex work from ambiguity through measurable outcomes.
• Improve architecture, platforms, and engineering practices by simplifying systems and making them easier to understand, modify, operate, and scale.
• Shape technical direction across products and engineering teams by providing sound judgment, clear recommendations, and actionable technical strategies.
• Align senior stakeholders and engineering teams around technical priorities, translating high-level strategy into execution.
• Increase the effectiveness of senior engineers and teams through coaching, technical guidance, reusable patterns, improved decision-making, and thoughtful leadership.
• Work across teams and technical domains to address the highest-leverage problems, influencing outcomes without relying on formal organizational authority.
• Stay close to the technical work through code, architecture, data, and production systems while recognizing when enabling others will create greater impact.
• Maintain a strong focus on using AI tools to accelerate engineering workflows, problem-solving, development, and delivery.
• Contribute to a culture of urgency, ownership, continuous improvement, constructive challenge, and high technical standards.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• 10+ years of professional software engineering experience, including experience operating at Staff, Principal, or equivalent technical scope.
• Extensive experience designing, building, and operating complex production systems, with broad expertise across architecture, software delivery, reliability, performance, and operations.
• Demonstrated career progression in scope and influence, with a history of creating impact beyond individual code contributions or a single engineering team.
• Strong sense of urgency and ability to create momentum, shorten paths to outcomes, and proactively move high-priority initiatives forward.
• Exceptional ownership and self-direction, with the ability to work effectively in a remote environment while communicating proactively and creating clarity without constant oversight.
• Strong curiosity and intellectual humility, with the ability to challenge assumptions, seek context, disagree constructively, and commit fully once a decision has been made.
• Excellent technical judgment and communication skills, with the ability to influence engineers, executives, and cross-functional stakeholders.
• A strong belief in the transformative potential of AI and a demonstrated habit of incorporating AI tools into engineering and problem-solving workflows.
• Ability to operate comfortably across strategic planning and hands-on technical execution.

Benefits

• Base salary of $200,000+, depending on experience.
• Incentive Stock Option (ISO) grant for full-time employees, subject to Board approval.
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, with premiums covered at 100% for employees and 70% for dependents.
• Unlimited paid time off and sick leave, plus 14 company holidays.
• 100% 401(k) match up to 4%, with immediate vesting.
• Generous and competitive parental leave for all parents.
• $1,000 desk setup subsidy to support a personalized remote workspace.
• $100 monthly allowance toward Wi-Fi or cell phone expenses.
• Summer Fridays, typically offering half-day Fridays from late May through the end of August.
• Commuter benefits for employees who choose to use available office spaces in New York City or San Francisco.
• Remote-first working environment with a strong emphasis on autonomy, ownership, and continuous feedback.
• Structured onboarding designed to build knowledge of products, customers, and value propositions, including scored assessments and a six-month performance evaluation period.

We use an AI-powered matching process to ensure your application is reviewed quickly, objectively, and fairly against the role's core requirements. Our system identifies the top-fitting candidates, and this shortlist is then shared directly with the hiring company. The final decision and next steps (interviews, assessments) are managed by their internal team.

We appreciate your interest and wish you the best!

Why Apply Through Jobgether?

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