Principal Engineer, Platform

Smartly; Helsinki; On-site; EUR 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare packages

Competitive compensation

Flexible hybrid workplace

Job summary

Smartly, based in Helsinki, is looking for a Principal Engineer to join their Platform Group. You will play a crucial role in guiding teams through complex technical challenges.

As a Principal Engineer, you will shape the technical direction of Smartly, work on next-generation data products, and ensure scalability and reliability across the platform.

The position offers a hybrid work model, comprehensive rewards, and a focus on wellbeing.

Qualifications

• 3+ years as a Staff, Principal, or Lead Engineer, driving technical strategy.
• Experience with scalability, reliability, and performance in production systems.
• Strong grounding in distributed systems and architectural decision-making.

Responsibilities

• Guide technical vision and strategy for Smartly’s platform.
• Drive execution on large-scale technical initiatives.
• Lead complex cross-team projects enhancing platform architecture.

Skills

Technical strategy leadership

Distributed systems understanding

High-quality code standards

Communication of technical topics

Education

3+ years in a leadership engineering role

5+ years experience with production systems

Tools

Analytical databases (ClickHouse, BigQuery)

Infrastructure and cloud platform knowledge

Job description

We are looking for a Principal Engineer to join our Platform Group. As a leading technical expert, you will play a pivotal role in guiding our teams through some of the most complex technical challenges at Smartly. Your influence will be crucial in shaping the technical direction of our platform, identifying critical areas for future investment, and driving execution on initiatives that improve scalability, reliability, and developer productivity.

The Platform Group owns the foundational systems that power Smartly's products and engineering organization. This includes large-scale databases, distributed systems, infrastructure capabilities, and platform services that enable our teams to build and operate reliably at scale.

The Principal Engineer reports to the Chief Architect and works closely with engineering teams, product leaders, and other stakeholders across the organization.

What You Will Do

Below are some of the key initiatives you will work on as a Principal Engineer.

Examples of Initiatives You Will Work On

• Define how AI agents can safely and effectively interact with Smartly’s platform, data, and internal systems.
• Shape the technical vision and architecture of Smartly’s automation platform, enabling teams to build and operate automations reliably at scale.
• Partner with teams building our next‑generation data products, helping define the architecture for combining multiple large‑scale datasets into a unified and accessible data foundation.
• Evolve the architecture and operational model of our largest databases, including sharding, replication, and scaling strategies.

With other Principal Engineers, you will also have a substantial impact on shaping Smartly’s technical direction and engineering culture. We expect you to utilize your strengths to the benefit of the development teams you work with.

Responsibilities

• Be a strong engineering voice alongside other leaders by advising and driving Smartly’s technical vision and strategy, setting and upholding high standards for technical quality, scalability, and operational excellence.
• Drive execution through architecture, design, and hands‑on technical contributions, taking responsibility for delivering large‑scale technical initiatives to customers.
• Remain actively involved in design reviews, prototyping, incident analysis, and implementation of critical technical components.
• Lead complex cross‑team projects that advance our platform architecture and long‑term technical vision.
• Identify and address scalability, reliability, observability, and performance bottlenecks across critical systems.
• Contribute to sharing learnings and knowledge across the organization, mentoring engineers and raising engineering standards.
• Participate in our recruitment process and help maintain consistently high engineering standards across teams.

Requirements

• 3+ years operating at Staff, Principal, Lead Engineer, or equivalent level, driving technical strategy across multiple teams.
• Proven track record leading multi‑quarter technical initiatives spanning 3+ engineering teams and delivering measurable improvements in scalability, reliability, developer productivity, or operational efficiency.
• 5+ years operating production systems where relational database architecture, scalability, reliability, and performance were critical concerns (e.g., 99.9%+ availability targets).
• Strong understanding of distributed systems and experience making architectural decisions involving consistency, availability, partition tolerance, replication, and sharding.
• Demonstrated success influencing technical direction without direct managerial authority.
• A high bar for quality of code, testing, and user experience.
• Ability to communicate complex technical topics clearly to a wide range of stakeholders.
• Ability to listen well and internalize the best ideas from across the organization while also setting a vision that others are excited to get behind.

Bonus Points If You Have

• Experience with analytical databases such as ClickHouse, BigQuery, Snowflake, or similar technologies.
• Strong infrastructure and cloud platform knowledge.
• Experience designing systems that safely expose capabilities, data, and workflows to AI agents or autonomous systems.
• Experience leading reliability, observability, or performance engineering initiatives.

Benefits

• An Inclusive Global Culture: Join a team of over 750 Smartlies, representing more than 60 nationalities across 24 locations in 13 countries. We cultivate a culture built on trust, transparency, and open feedback, where diverse perspectives are valued and encouraged.
• Global Impact: Contribute to a company making a global impact, directly influencing our customers’ success and business growth.
• Focus on Wellbeing: We prioritize your health with healthcare packages, mental health services, and a commitment to work‑life balance through paid holidays and family leave.
• Comprehensive Rewards: Benefit from equity options, performance‑based rewards, competitive compensation, and career development opportunities.
• Flexible Hybrid Workplace: Experience a hybrid work model, balancing office collaboration with remote work, and the option to work abroad for up to 30 days annually.

Apply Now and Build Your Future with Smartly!

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