Principal Software Engineer Job Seattle area,Washington USA,Software Development

Hybrid | Greater Seattle Area (2 Days Onsite Weekly Preferred)
Compensation: $210,000 - $240,000 Base + Bonus ($260,000 - $280,000 OTE) About the Opportunity

We're partnering with a well-established software company seeking a Principal Engineer to serve as a key technical leader across its platform, cloud services, and emerging AI initiatives.

This is a highly visible role that combines hands‑on architecture, engineering leadership, product influence, and customer engagement. As a trusted advisor to executive leadership, you'll help shape technology strategy, mentor engineers, modernize critical systems, and drive the next generation of cloud‑native and AI‑enabled products.

If you're looking for a role where you can materially influence both technology and business outcomes while remaining close to the code, this is an exceptional opportunity.

What You'll Do

Define and drive the technical architecture across multiple products and platforms
Partner closely with executive leadership on technology strategy and long‑term roadmap planning
Lead modernization efforts for existing software platforms while helping define new product offerings
Design and evolve scalable cloud‑native systems, services, and APIs
Establish engineering best practices around reliability, observability, maintainability, and software quality
Coach and mentor engineers across varying experience levels
Collaborate directly with customers and internal stakeholders to understand business challenges and shape solutions
Help identify and evaluate opportunities to leverage AI and LLM technologies within products and workflows
Serve as a technical multiplier across engineering, product, and leadership teams

What We're Looking For

Required Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related technical field
12+ years of professional software engineering experience
Proven experience designing and building large‑scale cloud‑native applications and services
Strong expertise with at least one major cloud platform (AWS, Azure, or GCP)
Deep experience with distributed systems, APIs, and service‑oriented architectures
Strong understanding of multiple database technologies, including relational and No

SQL systems
Experience with messaging, event‑driven architectures, or queue‑based systems
Hands‑on experience with containerization and orchestration technologies such as Docker and Kubernetes
Proficiency in one or more modern backend languages such as C#, Java, Go, Python, or Type Script
Track record of defining technical strategy and successfully executing complex initiatives
Exceptional communication skills with the ability to convey technical concepts to both technical and non‑technical audiences
Experience mentoring engineers and raising technical standards across a team
Comfort operating in fast‑paced, ambiguous environments with significant ownership

Preferred Qualifications

Experience leveraging AI development tools such as Claude, Cursor, Codex, or Copilot
Experience building AI‑powered products, LLM integrations, or AI infrastructure
Startup or small‑company experience where resourcefulness and ownership were critical
Background modernizing legacy applications or platforms
Frontend experience with modern frameworks such as React, Angular, or Vue
Experience working directly with customers and gathering product requirements
Experience leading cross‑functional initiatives involving Product, Engineering, and Executive stakeholders

Why This Role Stands Out

Direct influence on product and company strategy
Significant architectural ownership and autonomy
Small, highly collaborative engineering organization
Opportunity to shape AI initiatives from the ground up
Exposure to executive leadership and customer‑facing product decisions
Ability to mentor and…