Senior Software Developer

solace; Ottawa; Hybrid; CAD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Training programs and growth

Growth opportunities

Job summary

Solace is a leading real-time data platform powering enterprise AI applications. The Routing and Redundancy team builds core engines and bridges across environments, running on hardware, software brokers, and cloud platforms.

We seek a software developer with hands-on production experience to own high-impact features, contribute across the stack, and advance AI-assisted tooling in a fast, collaborative atmosphere. This hybrid role emphasizes rigorous engineering and real‑time data delivery.

Qualifications

• Four or more years of professional software development experience.
• Strong C++ on Linux with solid OO design.
• Multithreaded programming and synchronization challenges.
• Experience with distributed systems and event-driven architectures.
• Practical use of AI-assisted coding tools in production.
• Ability to deliver production-quality software with automated tests.
• Experience debugging/profiling with tools like gdb, perf, tcpdump, strace, or valgrind.
• Bachelor's degree or higher in Software/CS/Engineering.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop features for the message-routing engine, bridges, and HA failover mechanisms in modern C++ on Linux.
• Own the full lifecycle from requirements to release using agile practices.
• Write and maintain unit and end-to-end tests for HA and network deployments.
• Expand internal agents, tools, and workflows to boost development velocity.
• Collaborate with adjacent squads to align architectural dependencies.

Skills

C++ on Linux

Multithreading

Distributed systems

AI-assisted coding tools

Automated tests

Debugging/profiling

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Software/CS/Engineering

Tools

gdb

perf

tcpdump

strace

valgrind

Job description

Enterprise AI is moving from pilots to production, and the constraint is no longer the model — it's the data. Agents are only as good as what they can sense, trust, and act on in the moment, and real-time, event-driven data is becoming the foundation every serious AI system runs on.

Solace is the leading real-time data platform for the enterprise AI era. Established enterprises worldwide — including RBC Capital Markets, Bosch, Heineken, PSA Singapore, United Airlines, Schwarz Group, and hundreds more — have built their business around Solace to enable intelligent, real-time experiences, modernize their application and integration landscape, and create seamless digital journeys for their customers, partners, and employees.

So, the next time you drive a car, order furniture online, fly in a plane, check your bank balance on your phone, your positive experience could be a direct result of our technology—and your hard work!

About the Role

The Routing and Redundancy team builds the core engine that turns individual Solace event brokers into a unified network. We own three main areas: the routing engine that distributes messages to interested clients across the mesh, the bridges connecting brokers across different environments, and the failover systems that keep traffic moving during outages. This same codebase runs on hardware appliances, software brokers, and our cloud platform.

We are seeking a software developer with hands‑on production experience to contribute across these areas. Given the interconnected nature of our system, you will take early ownership of complex, high‑impact features.Our team operates AI-native workflows, using coding agents and custom tooling as standard parts of our development process. With implementation accelerated by automation, our hiring focuses on foundational engineering skills: deep system reasoning, failure mode analysis, and the technical rigor required to verify complex code paths.

Are You Someone Who

• Has a passion for building high-performance, scalable backend systems?
• Thrives on solving complex integration challenges in distributed systems?
• Has experience building event-driven architectures and real-time streaming platforms?
• Enjoys leading technical discussions in a collaborative manner?
• Is detail‑oriented and committed to delivering high-quality software?
• Is humble, honest and open?

What You'll Do

• Design and Develop: Build features for the message‑routing engine, the bridges, and the high Availability (HA) failover mechanisms, in modern C++ on Linux. Solve complex challenges around network topology, subscription propagation across the mesh, split‑brain avoidance, and disaster recovery.
• Own the Full Lifecycle: Take part in requirements, design, implementation, testing, bug fixing and release, using agile practices.
• Quality Assurance & Build Pipelines: Write and maintain unit tests alongside the code you change, plus end‑to‑end tests covering High Availability and network deployments.
• Developer Tooling & AI Enhancement: Expand and refine our custom internal agents, tools, and workflows to continuously elevate team‑wide development velocity and knowledge sharing.
• Cross‑Functional Collaboration: Partner closely with adjacent squads to align architectural dependencies across the broader product platform.

What You Bring

• Four or more years of professional software development experience.
• Strong C++ on Linux, with solid analytical and object‑oriented design skills.
• Working knowledge of multithreaded programming: threads, synchronization, and the problems they cause.
• Exposure to networked or distributed systems, and genuine interest in why distributed state is hard.
• Practical experience leveraging AI-assisted coding tools (e.g., Claude Code, Cursor) in a professional environment.
• Ability to deliver production‑quality software backed by automated tests.
• Comfort with debugging and profiling tools such as gdb, perf, tcpdump, strace, or valgrind.
• Independent problem solving: Resourceful and self‑directed; you can take an ambiguous problem, design an approach, overcome architectural roadblocks, and maintain momentum with minimal oversight.
• Excellent written and verbal communication.
• Bachelor's degree or higher in Software/Computer/Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a similar field.

Desirable Skills

• Experience with messaging or streaming infrastructure (Solace PubSub+, Kafka, MQTT, AMQP, etc.).
• Familiarity with routing protocols (OSPF, BGP) or distributed consensus systems (Raft, Paxos, quorums).
• Linux system programming interfaces (POSIX/BSD/SVr4) and the GNU libraries.
• Background in performance analysis, profiling, and low‑latency tuning.
• Experience building custom AI tooling, scripts, or extensions for personal projects or professional workflows.

Why You'll Love Working at Solace

At Solace, we're all about smart people, meaningful work, and good vibes.

• Work with brilliance– Our team is packed with some of the sharpest minds in the industry.
• Balance matters– We believe work should fit into your life, not the other way around.
• Hybrid‑first– Flexibility is built into how we work, so everyone feels included and empowered.
• Values‑driven– We live and breathe our core values: craftsmanship, trust, courage, freedom, momentum, humility, and human experience.
• Growth mindset– Our training programs are designed to help you level up, fast.
• Customer Obsessed– We're proud of our world‑class customer lineup (we're not shy about it).
• Keep it fun– We're social, we keep things simple, and we know how to have a good time.

At Solace, we are committed to a fair, inclusive, and transparent recruitment process.

To help identify candidates whose qualifications best align with the role, we use artificial intelligence (AI) tools during the initial stage of resume screening. These tools compare submitted resumes to the job description, focusing on education, experience, and skills.

Importantly, all decisions beyond this initial screening—including interviews and final hiring—are made by our human recruitment team. AI is never used to make final hiring decisions.

Let's Talk

Need accommodations during the hiring process? Just let us know — we're here to support you.

Thanks to everyone who applies! While we wish we could connect with every candidate, only those selected to move forward will be contacted.