Senior Principal Software Engineer in United States Embassy at Jobgether

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

This role is designed for a highly experienced software engineer who will shape the future of large-scale commerce platforms.
You will take ownership of critical backend systems, designing scalable architectures and solving complex engineering challenges.
The position focuses on building reliable, service-oriented solutions that support a global digital commerce environment.
You will work across teams to evolve APIs, integrations, and distributed systems while influencing technical direction.
This is an opportunity to drive meaningful platform improvements through hands-on engineering, architecture leadership, and innovation.
You will collaborate with talented engineers and product teams to deliver resilient systems that support millions of customer experiences.

The Senior Principal Software Engineer will provide deep technical leadership while remaining hands-on in the design, development, and operation of core backend systems. This role requires strong architectural expertise, ownership of production systems, and the ability to solve complex distributed systems challenges.

• Own the design, evolution, and scalability of backend services and APIs supporting commerce workflows.
• Lead the architecture and implementation of GraphQL services using federated and supergraph-based approaches.
• Build and improve integrations with major commerce platforms, including APIs, webhooks, and order lifecycle processes.
• Design service boundaries, data models, and system integrations to improve platform scalability and maintainability.
• Solve complex technical challenges involving distributed systems, runtime behavior, transport performance, connection management, and system reliability.
• Own production systems by ensuring performance, observability, availability, and effective incident response practices.
• Partner with engineering, product, frontend, and platform teams to simplify development workflows and improve system integration.
• Influence technical strategy and roadmap decisions by providing clear architectural recommendations and business-focused tradeoffs.
• Act as a technical mentor and engineering reference point through design reviews, best practices, and standards development.
• Drive ambiguous, high-impact engineering initiatives from concept through successful delivery.

Requirements:

The ideal candidate is a senior technical expert with extensive experience building scalable backend platforms and distributed systems. You should have strong architectural judgment, excellent problem-solving abilities, and the ability to independently lead complex engineering initiatives.

• 8+ years of experience in backend engineering, platform engineering, or related software development roles.
• Strong experience designing, building, and operating distributed systems and APIs at scale.
• Deep expertise in GraphQL design and implementation, including federated and supergraph architectures.
• Strong proficiency with Node.js and TypeScript.
• Experience working with eCommerce platforms, integrations, or large-scale transactional systems.
• Proven ability to diagnose complex production issues at the runtime, transport, or infrastructure level.
• Demonstrated ownership of production systems, including reliability, performance optimization, and operational excellence.
• Ability to work independently, manage ambiguity, and deliver high-impact technical solutions.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to explain architectural decisions and technical tradeoffs clearly.
• Hands-on experience with Apollo Federation supergraph architectures is preferred.
• Experience with headless commerce architectures and third-party commerce integrations is a plus.
• Familiarity with AWS event-driven messaging services such as SNS/SQS is preferred.
• Experience with search and retrieval systems such as OpenSearch is beneficial.
• Knowledge of Kubernetes, Terraform-managed infrastructure, and cloud-native operations is advantageous.
• Exposure to frontend technologies such as Next.js or React for API collaboration is a plus.

Benefits:

• Competitive base salary depending on location and experience:
  • California: $159,750 - $225,500
  • Connecticut and New York: $159,750 - $206,250
  • Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and Washington: $159,750 - $191,000
  • Nevada: $150,000 - $206,250
  • Maryland and New Jersey: $172,500 - $206,250
  • Hawaii: $150,000 - $179,500
• Potential bonus incentive opportunities.
• Remote work flexibility for eligible candidates across supported U.S. states.
• Comprehensive health benefits, including medical, dental, and vision coverage.
• 401(k) retirement program.
• Additional employee perks and wellness benefits.
• Opportunity to work on large-scale digital commerce technology and impactful customer-facing platforms.
• Collaborative and inclusive environment that values diverse perspectives and innovation.