Principal, Software Engineering

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation; Ottawa; Hybrid; CAD 129,000 - 161,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual vacation

Performance incentive

Group insurance

Training & mentorship

Inclusive workplace

Indigenous accommodation

Job summary

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation seeks a Principal Software Engineer to guide engineering excellence, delivery, and platform modernization across multiple product teams. You will act as a trusted advisor on strategy and implementation, shaping enterprise homeowner platform solutions and ensuring secure, scalable technology delivery.

Join CMHC to influence technical direction, partner with cross-functional teams, and drive improvements in reliability, security, and performance across the

Qualifications

• Undergraduate degree or equivalent in CS/IT/SE required.
• At least 10 years in software engineering with secure development and modernization focus.
• Experience coaching developers and engineering leaders.
• Strong stakeholder engagement and enterprise-grade delivery experience.

Responsibilities

• Champion engineering excellence and governance across multiple teams.
• Establish standards for code quality, testing, release readiness, and debt management.
• Drive modern software practices and platform maturity.
• Lead initiatives for reliability and operational excellence.
• Provide technical guidance to leadership for planning and investments.
• Partner with Product Owners, Architects, and Platform teams to translate requirements.

Skills

SSDLC knowledge

Coaching engineers

Security-focused

Leadership experience

Cross-team collaboration

Communication skills

Cloud-native platforms

CI/CD pipelines

Threat modeling

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/IT/SE

Tools

Azure Functions

Logic Apps

Kubernetes

OAuth2

OIDC

JWT

Job description

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Travel Requirement:Limited

Language Skill Levels (Read/Write/Speak):CBC

Security Requirement: Reliability Status

Salary:Our salaries generally range from $129,175.28to $161,469.09and are based on qualifications and experience.

About CMHC

The work you do and the work we do together matters. We come to work every day with a common purpose: to contribute to a well-functioning housing system.

At CMHC, we hold ourselves accountable for our results and support our colleagues in their achievements. We thrive on collaboration, connecting across CMHC and involving the right people to get our work done. Our leadership style is guided by trust, where our leaders favour an adaptive approach based on the needs of their teams.

Join us and be part of a team that's committed to making a real difference and be part of something meaningful.

What’s in it for you

We’ve got the purpose, the people and the perks you need for a fulfilling career. Here’s the comprehensive and generous benefits you get when you’re a permanent employee:

• Annual Paid vacation.
• Annual individual performance incentive.
• Comprehensive group insurance plan to support your well-being from day one.
• Support towards your personal and professional growth with training, mentorship and more.
• An inclusive workplace culture and environment.
• While positions at CMHC require some in-office presence, alternative work arrangements may be considered for Indigenous candidates.

Members of the following employment equity deserving groups will be prioritized for this job: Indigenous Peoples

About the role

Join the Business Solutions Engineering team, in the Principal, Software Engineering position. In this senior technical and delivery advisor role you will guide engineering effectiveness, delivery excellence, operational readiness, and continuous improvement across multiple product teams and agile pods.

You will act as a trusted advisor on engineering strategy and implementation and evolution of the enterprise homeowner platform solutions.

What you'll do:

• Champion engineering excellence and governance across multiple Agile teams and product portfolios.
• Promote and Establish standards for code quality, automation testing, release readiness, technical debt management, and engineering governance.
• Drive adoption of modern software engineering practices and continuous improvement.
• Lead initiatives to improve engineering effectiveness, platform maturity, service reliability, and operational excellence.
• Enable delivery of scalable, resilient, secure, and maintainable end-to-end technology solutions.
• Partner with Product Owners, Architects, and Platform Engineering teams to translate complex business requirements into technical solutions.
• Provide technical guidance and strategic recommendations to leadership to support planning, prioritization, and investment decisions.
• Identify, escalation, and mitigate delivery, quality, operational, and compliance risks while coaching Engineering Managers, Tech Leads, and senior engineers on engineering leadership and delivery best practices.

What you should have:

• An undergraduate degree in computer science, information technology, software engineering, or a related field. An equivalent combination of education and/or experience can be considered.
• A minimum of ten (10) years of relevant experience in software engineering with a strong expertise in secure development, architecture, and platform modernization.
• A deep understanding of secure software development lifecycle (SSDLC), including threat modeling, secure code patterns, and remediation strategies.
• A proven ability to coach and influence developers, technical leads, and platform engineers.
• Demonstrated experience leading or influencing complex, multi‑stream technology initiatives, with the ability to operate as a trusted advisor across business and technology stakeholders in large, enterprise environments.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder‑engagement skills, with the ability to influence decisions, build trust, and advise senior leaders in complex environments.

Technology:

• A strong background in cloud-native platforms (e.g., Azure Functions, Logic Apps, Kubernetes) and CI/CD pipelines.
• Experience implementing modern identity architectures (OAuth2, OIDC, JWT), API hardening, and platform-level security measures.

It would be great if you also had:

• Experience establishing engineering excellence frameworks across multiple teams or portfolios.
• Experience implementing AI-enabled engineering tools such as GitHub Copilot.
• A familiarity with WCAG accessibility standards, performance optimization.
• Experience with Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), platform engineering, or operational excellence programs.
• Experience working in public sector, financial services, insurance, or highly regulated environments.

Posting closing date: Note, the competition will remain active until filled.

Our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion

We’re committed to employment equity and encourage women, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities, veterans and persons of all races, ethnicities, religions, abilities, sexual orientations, and gender identities and expressions to apply. We also welcome applications from non-Canadians who are eligible to work in Canada.

CMHC is an inclusive workplace where diversity of thought – and of people – are recognized, valued, and considered essential to achieving our mission.

We know that applying for a new job can be both exciting and daunting, and we appreciate your effort. Learn more about our hiring process . If you are selected for an interview or testing, please advise us if you require an accommodation.

If you applied before and you were not successful don’t worry – we're always posting new positions, so don’t hesitate to give it another shot. We’re excited to see what you bring to the table this time around!