Principal Architect

Target in India; Bengaluru; Hybrid; INR 4,000,000 - 6,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Target in India is seeking a hands-on Principal Architect to drive architecture, execution, and team leadership for scalable digital products. You will contribute to code, system design, and product delivery while collaborating with Product, Design, and Business teams to build high-performance applications using cloud-native technologies.

The role demands 12–18 years of software experience with 2+ years in leadership, strong backend expertise, and a focus on scalable, secure systems.

Qualifications

• 12–18 years of software engineering experience with 2+ years leading teams.
• Experience building scalable backend systems and modern web applications.
• Expertise in at least one backend language/framework (Node.js, Python, Java, or Go).
• Strong understanding of system design, microservices, and cloud infrastructure.
• Experience with containerization and orchestration tools like Docker and Kubernetes.
• Good understanding of databases, caching, queues, and API architecture.
• Ability to balance speed, scalability, and engineering quality.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end development of scalable web applications and backend systems.
• Architect, design, and review distributed systems and APIs.
• Mentor and manage a team of engineers through code reviews and execution planning.
• Collaborate with Product and Design teams to translate requirements into technical solutions.
• Drive engineering practices including CI/CD, testing, observability, and security.
• Improve system performance, reliability, and developer productivity.
• Own sprint planning, technical estimations, and release management.
• Participate in hiring and help build a strong engineering culture.

Skills

Team leadership

System design

Cloud architecture

CI/CD

API design

Communication

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Node.js

Python

Java

Go

Job description

We're looking for a hands-on Principal Architect to drive architecture, execution, and team leadership for scalable digital products. This role requires strong technical depth, an ownership mindset, and the ability to lead engineers while actively contributing to code, system design, and product delivery. You'll work closely with Product, Design, and Business teams to build high-performance applications using modern engineering practices and cloud-native technologies.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end development of scalable web applications and backend systems.


• Architect, design, and review distributed systems and APIs.


• Mentor and manage a team of engineers through code reviews, technical guidance, and execution planning.


• Collaborate with Product and Design teams to translate business requirements into technical solutions.


• Drive engineering best practices, including CI/CD, testing, observability, and security.


• Improve system performance, reliability, scalability, and developer productivity.


• Own sprint planning, technical estimations, and release management.


• Participate in hiring and help build a strong engineering culture.

Requirements

• 12-18 years of software engineering experience with 2+ years leading teams.


• Strong experience building scalable backend systems and modern web applications.


• Expertise in at least one backend language/framework (Node.js, Python, Java, or Go).


• Strong understanding of system design, microservices, and cloud infrastructure.


• Experience with containerization and orchestration tools like Docker and Kubernetes.


• Good understanding of databases, caching, queues, and API architecture.


• Ability to balance speed, scalability, and engineering quality.


• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.


• Startup experience is a strong plus.

Nice to Have

• Experience building AI-enabled products or integrating LLM APIs.


• Exposure to event-driven architecture and distributed systems.


• Experience in high-growth startup environments.


• Open-source contributions or strong engineering community presence.