Principal Engineer, Core Product (Hybrid)

Homebase; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 329,000 - 424,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

4% 401(k) match (US) / TFSA/RRSP 4% (C

Comprehensive health benefits

Flexible PTO

Work From Anywhere Month

AI tools access

Parental leave

Life insurance

Hybrid in-office days

Job summary

Homebase is seeking a Principal Engineer, Core Product, to serve as the senior technical leader across Payroll, Scheduling, Time Tracking, and HRM. You will shape the technical strategy across domains and partner with product, data, design, and engineering leadership to deliver a scalable, trustworthy product.

You will mentor staff engineers, drive domain-driven design and API platform efforts, and champion AI-driven improvements to accelerate development while maintaining quality in a

Qualifications

• 12+ years of software engineering experience with deep expertise in scalable distributed systems.
• Ideal candidate with strong Ruby/Rails background.
• Track record defining and executing technical strategy across multiple product domains.
• Passion for mentoring engineers and guiding architectural change.
• Deep expertise in domain-driven design, API design, SOA and event-driven architectures.
• Experience with payroll or workforce management is a strong plus.
• Proven ability to influence through clarity and collaboration.
• Strong communication skills for executives and engineers.
• Active AI fluency and willingness to drive AI adoption across teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead and unify technical vision across core product domains (Payroll, Scheduling, Time Tracking, HRM).
• Architect, decompose and design scalable services and APIs.
• Mentor and raise the bar across staff engineers and teams.
• Partner with Product, Data, Design and Engineering leadership on roadmaps.
• Champion AI-enabled improvements to velocity and quality.

Skills

Distributed systems

Ruby on Rails

Technical leadership

AI fluency

Domain-driven design

API design

SOA

Event-driven architecture

Payroll domain

Mentoring engineers

Cross-functional collaboration

Tools

Ruby on Rails

Job description

Hi, Future Homie! At Homebase, you’ll join a team that’s bold, fast-moving, and obsessed with helping small businesses thrive. We build with empathy, act with urgency, and take big swings that drive real-world impact. Here, every Homie shows up to raise the bar, support one another, and celebrate wins as a team.

Hi, Future Homie! At Homebase, you’ll join a team that’s bold, fast-moving, and obsessed with helping small businesses thrive. We build with empathy, act with urgency, and take big swings that drive real-world impact. We’re not just building an app—we’re building unstoppable teams. So what do you say, are you in?

Your Impact Starts Here

As Principal Engineer, Core Product, you'll be the senior technical leader across Homebase's most critical product domains: Payroll, Scheduling, Time Tracking, HR Management (HRM). You’ll contribute to Homebase business goals by thinking 18+ months in the future to deliver technical capabilities that support a resilient, maintainable, scalable, and trustworthy product.

This is a role for someone who thinks in systems, ships with urgency, and elevates everyone around them. You'll work at the intersection of deep technical craft and business impact — partnering closely with product, data, design, and engineering leadership to shape what Homebase builds and how we build it.

These are the key ways you’ll contribute and create impact in this role

• Technical Leadership: In collaboration with our Technical Leadership group of Staff and Principal Engineers, drive Homebase’s technical vision and architecture across our Core Product domains such as Payroll, Scheduling, Time Tracking, and HRM — creating coherence across domains that today serve 100K+ SMBs
• API Strategy: Champion and help deliver Homebase's API strategy — building a platform that enables internal velocity, external integrations, and future partnership opportunities
• Service Architecture: Lead the decomposition of core product systems into well-bounded services using domain-driven design and SOA principles
• Technical Problem Solving: Identify and resolve cross-cutting technical challenges — data consistency, performance bottlenecks, reliability gaps — before they become customer problems
• Engineering Excellence: Support and champion the Engineering culture to scale Engineering Excellence in all teams. Drive standards and patterns that are adopted because they're good, not because they're mandated; mentor senior and staff engineers to raise the overall bar
• Cross-Functional Partnership: Partner with Product, Data, Design and Engineering leadership to shape roadmaps and ensure technical strategy aligns with business priorities
• AI-First Engineering: Experiment with and deploy/build harness capabilities to accelerate engineering workflows — from code generation to test automation — and coach teams on doing the same. Aligned with our belief that the best use of AI accelerates quality of the codebase and quality products as well as delivery velocity.

The Foundation for Success

These are the experiences and strengths that will set you up for success in this role:

• 12+ years of software engineering experience, with significant depth in scaling distributed systems and evolving legacy architectures
• Ideal candidate brings a strong background in Ruby/Rails
• Track record of defining and executing technical strategy across multiple product domains or teams — not just within one team
• Passion for mentoring engineers and guiding teams through architectural change.
• Deep expertise in domain-driven design, API design, SOA and event-driven architectures
• Experience with payroll, workforce management, or similarly complex business domains is a strong plus
• Proven ability to influence without authority — you drive alignment through clarity of thought and collaboration
• Strong communication skills: you can explain complex technical decisions to engineers, PMs, and executives alike
• Active, high-leverage AI fluency — you use AI tools daily to improve your outcomes as an engineer and have helped teams adopt AI to create leverage, not slop.
• Comfort operating in a high-velocity environment where shipping fast and iterating matters

AI Fluency - At the Principal level, we expect you to:

• Champion AI adoption across teams you influence — continually identifying where AI creates real leverage vs. noise
• Measure and share the impact of AI-enabled improvements on velocity, quality, or developer experience
• As a key member in Engineering Leadership, contribute to AI platform efforts that will enable Homebase to deliver outsized customer benefit through faster product development and higher quality features

The Homie Way

These principles guide everything we do—from how we work and make decisions to how we show up for each other.

• Be Customer Obsessed – Solve problems with empathy and creativity.
• Move Fast, Learn Fast – Experiment, take action, and grow every day.
• Own Your Impact – Think big, focus on what matters, and make decisions you stand behind.
• Master Your Craft – Excellence fuels impact—show up, step up, and make your mark.
• Win Together – Put goals over roles, lead with trust, and connect to our mission and each other.

What we offer (United States)

• Ownership & Financial Security: Stock options + 401(k) with 4% match
• Comprehensive Healthcare: Medical, dental, and vision coverage + FSA options
• Paid Time Off: Flexible PTO + company holidays + designated focus periods
• AI access, for real: We invest in builders and believe that curiosity shouldn't have a paywall. That means you'll have access to paid AI tools with minimal restrictions, so you can build, experiment, and level up your craft.
• Family Support: Up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave (after 6 months of service)
• Protection Plans: Life insurance + short/long-term disability coverage
• Work Your Way: Work From Anywhere Month + meeting-free weeks yearly
• Workspace Perks: Meals provided, commuter benefits, team offsites, and Customer Days
• Our Hybrid Rhythm: We believe collaboration drives impact. That’s why Tuesdays and Wednesdays are our required in-office days—a time to move faster as a team, build deeper connections, make better decisions, and build together.

What we offer (Canada)

• Ownership & Savings: Stock options + TFSA/RRSP with 4% company match
• Health & Wellness: Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision for you and your dependents
• Paid Time Off: Flexible PTO + company holidays + designated focus periods
• AI access, for real: We invest in builders and believe that curiosity shouldn't have a paywall. That means you'll have access to paid AI tools with minimal restrictions, so you can build, experiment, and level up your craft.
• Family Support: Maternity/Parental Leave EI top-up support offered (after 6 months of service)
• Work Your Way: Work From Anywhere Month + meeting-free weeks yearly
• Protection Plans: Life insurance + short/long-term disability coverage
• Workspace Perks: Meals provided, team offsites, and Customer Days
• Our Hybrid Rhythm: We believe collaboration drives impact. That’s why Tuesdays and Wednesdays are our required in-office days—a time to move faster as a team, build deeper connections, make better decisions, and build together.

What To Expect During The Interview Process

• Meet the Talent Acquisition team, Mavel W.
• Meet the Hiring Manager, Andrea C.
• Participate in a Technical Interview
• Meet Cross-functional Partners in Product & Engineering
• Connect on Values & AI Mindset with Senior Engineers
• Background Check + Offer Stage
• Welcome to the team, Homie

Belonging at Homebase -

We're committed to fostering a welcoming space where every Homie can be their full self. Experience comes in many forms—so if you're excited about this role, even if you don’t meet 100% of the qualifications, we encourage you to apply!

Homebase will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.

Hey, We’re Homebase

Homebase is the everything app for hourly teams—built to simplify the day-to-day and superpower local businesses. With tools for scheduling, time clocks, payroll, communication, HR, and more, we help teams stay connected and in control. Today, over 150,000 small (but mighty) businesses rely on us to make work radically easier. Together, we’ve tracked over a billion hours for 2M+ workers—and we’re just getting started.

At Homebase, we celebrate diversity and are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We welcome all candidates and do not discriminate based on any legally protected status. If you need accommodations during the hiring process, please let us know—we’re committed to ensuring fair and equitable access for all.

Compensation Range: $237,300 - $305,800