Senior Principal Engineer

Bentley Systems; Dublin; On-site; EUR 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Bentley Systems in Dublin seeks a Senior Principal Engineer to define and own the technical architecture of the Bentley Developer Platform, covering API gateway, authentication, metering, and billing across products.

This hands-on leadership role involves setting architectural direction, writing production code, reviewing PRs, and guiding standards across teams while collaborating with engineering leaders.

Qualifications

• 12+ years software engineering with large-scale systems architecture.
• Proven API platform and gateway experience with security and rate limiting.
• Strong communication and leadership across multiple product teams.

Responsibilities

• Define the architecture of the developer platform—API gateway, authentication, metering, billing integration, and settlement.
• Write production code and review pull requests; remain the senior hands-on contributor.
• Serve as the primary technical interface between the Developer Platform and product teams.
• Develop and publish the API Design Standards v1 with collaboration from product teams.
• Own platform standards and governance: telemetry schema, hub listings, security and integration patterns.
• Establish IMS OAuth as the standard authentication model across platform surfaces.
• Define migration paths for existing APIs to meet platform standards.
• Ensure AI and MCP surfaces are first-class citizens with agent integration patterns.
• Partner with Engineering Manager on hiring, team structure, and delivery sequencing.
• Partner with CIO on enterprise application/ERP integration.

Skills

API platform architecture

OAuth / OIDC

Cloud-native

Hands-on coding

Leadership

Cross-team collaboration

Security models

API gateway

Telemetry standards

Mentoring

Tools

API gateway

OAuth / OIDC

Job description

Senior Principal Engineer

Team: Bentley Developer Platform — Platform Engineering

Bentley Systems

Location: Preference is for hybrid or office-based work in our Dublin, Ireland office. Co-located with the platform engineering team.

Type: Full-time

Position Summary

We are seeking a Senior Principal Engineer to define and own the technical architecture of the Bentley Developer Platform — which includes the front end developer experience, the API gateway, authentication, metering, and billing infrastructure that powers Bentley’s portfolio of developer APIs across products such as Cesium, Seequent EVO, and iTwin.

This is a hands‑on technical leadership role. You will set the architectural direction for the platform, write production code, review pull requests, and act as the senior technical authority the engineering team relies on for difficult decisions. You will also work closely with engineering teams across the API portfolio to develop and maintain the platform’s API design standards, security models, and integration patterns. If you are an engineer who enjoys both deep technical work and influencing standards across an organization, this role offers significant scope and impact.

Responsibilities

• Define the architecture of the developer platform — API gateway, authentication, metering, billing integration, and settlement — ensuring it is sound, extensible, and cloud-native from the outset.
• Write production code and review pull requests; remain the senior hands‑on technical contributor on the team and unblock engineers on the critical path.
• Serve as the primary technical interface between the Developer Platform and P&T and product engineering teams, building credibility as their go‑to person for platform questions.
• Jointly develop and publish the API Design Standards v1, working collaboratively with product teams so that standards reflect the technical reality of what those teams are building and will actually be adopted.
• Own platform standards and governance: define the telemetry schema, maintain hub listing requirements, and establish the security and integration patterns applied across all API families.
• Establish IMS OAuth as the standard authentication model across all platform surfaces.
• Define and document migration paths for existing APIs to meet platform standards.
• Ensure AI and MCP surfaces are first‑class citizens in the platform architecture and taxonomy, with documented agent integration patterns alongside traditional REST APIs.
• Partner with the Engineering Manager on technical hiring, team structure, and delivery sequencing.
• Partner with CIO organization on enterprise application/ERP integration, unified architecture.

Qualifications

• Principal or Distinguished engineering calibre, typically 12+ years of software engineering experience with significant time spent architecting large‑scale systems.
• Deep, demonstrated experience in API platform architecture, including API gateways, routing, rate limiting, and entitlement enforcement.
• Strong expertise in OAuth 2.0 / OIDC, token handling, and platform authentication models.
• Hands‑on experience designing metering, usage‑based billing, and event‑pipeline systems.
• Strong cloud‑native infrastructure background (event streaming, distributed systems, settlement/ERP integration patterns).
• A rare combination of hands‑on coding ability and the communication skills to work credibly and collaboratively with multiple distinct product engineering teams.
• Track record of defining standards or platform conventions that were adopted across independent teams — by influence and collaboration, not mandate.
• Familiarity with AI/agent integration patterns and MCP is a strong plus.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to align senior engineers across organizational boundaries.