Senior Principal Engineer

Autodesk; Toronto; On-site; CAD 157,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Autodesk is seeking a Senior Principal Engineer – AI and Engineering Excellence to lead the technical strategy for our cloud platform, developer experience, and AI-enabled capabilities. You will define architectures on AWS, drive platform adoption, and mentor across software engineering, security, and product teams.

The role demands deep expertise in AWS, Kubernetes, CI/CD, IaC, observability, and enterprise AI integration, with a strong track record of delivering scalable, reliable platforms.

Qualifications

• BS/MS in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.
• 12+ years software engineering with leadership roles.
• Deep expertise in AWS, Kubernetes (EKS), Terraform, AWS CDK, ArgoCD/GitOps, and modern CI/CD.
• Experience operating large-scale cloud platforms and Kubernetes.
• Strong background in CDN, Web Security, and high-scale apps.
• Designing highly available, secure, observable distributed systems.
• Knowledge of IAM, cloud security, and IaC.
• Observability, SRE practices, incident management, reliability engineering.
• Proficiency in Python, Java, TypeScript, or Go.
• Experience with automated testing tools like Playwright, JMeter, or similar.
• Ability to drive productivity via platform automation.
• Excellent communication to influence senior leadership.
• Experience designing AI-enabled platform services and enterprise AI architectures.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute technical vision for Platform Engineering and IDP.
• Architect cloud-native platforms on AWS with Kubernetes, IaC, GitOps, and CI/CD.
• Build scalable, secure platform services to boost developer productivity.
• Create reusable paved roads, self-service capabilities, and automation.
• Improve reliability through observability, incident management, and security-by-default.
• Provide architectural reviews, mentorship, and cross-functional collaboration.

Skills

AWS

Kubernetes (EKS)

Terraform

AWS CDK

ArgoCD / GitOps

CI/CD

Observability

SRE practices

Python

Java

TypeScript

Go

Security

Authentication & Authorization

Education

BS/MS in Computer Science, Engineering, or related technical field

Tools

Terraform

AWS CDK

ArgoCD / GitOps

Kubernetes (EKS)

CI/CD platforms

Playwright

JMeter / LoadRunner

Job description

Position Overview

GET Engineering is seeking an experienced Senior Principal Engineer – AI and Engineering Excellence to lead the technical strategy and evolution of our cloud platform, developer experience, application delivery, and AI-enabled engineering capabilities within the GET Engineering - Horizontal Services organization. This is a hands‑on technical leadership role responsible for building scalable, secure, and reliable cloud platforms that accelerate software delivery across Autodesk. You will define architecture, establish engineering standards, drive platform adoption, and partner across Software Engineering, Security, Infrastructure, and Product teams to deliver enterprise-scale platform solutions. The ideal candidate combines deep expertise in AWS, Kubernetes, CI/CD, Infrastructure as Code, observability, and developer productivity with the ability to influence technical direction across multiple engineering organizations.

Job Requisition ID #: 26WD100374

Key Responsibilities

• Define and execute the technical vision for Platform Engineering, DevOps, and Internal Developer Platform (IDP) initiatives
• Architect and evolve cloud-native platforms on AWS using Kubernetes (EKS), Infrastructure as Code, GitOps, and modern CI/CD pipelines
• Build scalable, secure, and highly available platform services that improve developer productivity and accelerate application delivery
• Establish reusable platform "paved roads," self-service capabilities, and automation that reduce operational overhead
• Drive operational excellence through observability, SRE practices, security- by-default, incident management, and continuous improvement
• Provide technical leadership through architecture reviews, design guidance, mentoring, and cross-functional collaboration

Minimum Qualifications

• BS/MS in Computer Science, Engineering, or related technical field.
• 12+ years of software engineering experience with proven technical leadership as a Principal Engineer, Software Architect, or Technical Lead
• Deep expertise in AWS, Kubernetes (EKS), Terraform, AWS CDK, ArgoCD/GitOps, and modern CI/CD platforms
• Proven experience operating large-scale cloud platforms and running production services on Kubernetes
• Strong background managing CDN, Web Security, and high-scale web applications
• Experience designing highly available, secure, observable, and resilient distributed systems
• Deep understanding of Authentication & Authorization, cloud security, and Infrastructure as Code
• Strong experience with observability, SRE practices, incident management, and reliability engineering
• Mastery of at least one programming language: Python, Java, TypeScript, or Go
• Familiarity with automated testing tools such as Playwright, BlazeMeter, JMeter, LoadRunner, or similar
• Proven ability to drive developer productivity through platform automation and self-service engineering solutions
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills with the ability to influence senior leadership and drive technical outcomes in a highly collaborative environment
• Proven experience designing, building, or integrating production AI-enabled platform services
• Experience with LLM APIs, RAG, agentic workflows, tool integration, MCP, and enterprise AI platform architecture
• Experience applying security, governance, evaluation, and observability practices to enterprise AI systems

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience building Internal Developer Platforms (Backstage or similar)
• Multi-cloud experience across AWS and Azure
• Experience with service mesh, policy-as-code, and enterprise security platforms
• Experience with enterprise AI and agentic application stacks, including managed LLM platforms such as AWS Bedrock orAzure, LLM gateway such as LiteLLM, orchestration frameworks such as LangGraph or Google ADK, model-serving such as KServe or vLLM, vector-search such as OpenSearch or pgvector, and MLOps/LLMOps practices for evaluation, tracing, versioning, deployment, monitoring, and governance, or equivalent technologies [KC1] [KC2]
• Experience with SOX/SOC2 compliance, FinOps, and enterprise platform modernization

Learn More

About Autodesk

Welcome to Autodesk! Amazing things are created every day with our software – from the greenest buildings and cleanest cars to the smartest factories and biggest hit movies. We help innovators turn their ideas into reality, transforming not only how things are made, but what can be made.
We take great pride in our culture here at Autodesk – it’s at the core of everything we do. Our culture guides the way we work and treat each other, informs how we connect with customers and partners, and defines how we show up in the world.
When you’re an Autodesker, you can do meaningful work that helps build a better world designed and made for all. Ready to shape the world and your future? Join us!

Salary transparency

Salary is one part of Autodesk’s competitive compensation package. For Canada based roles, we expect a starting base salary between $157,000 and $229,900. Offers are based on the candidate’s experience and geographic location, and may exceed this range. In addition to base salaries, our compensation package may include annual cash bonuses, commissions for sales roles, stock grants, and a comprehensive benefits package.

Belonging

We take pride in cultivating a culture of belonging where everyone can thrive. Learn more here: https://www.autodesk.com/company/global-belonging

In-Person Onboarding and Identity Verification

This role may require in-person onboarding and/or in-person ID verification.

Are you an existing contractor or consultant with Autodesk?