Principal Engineer - Front/Back-End Development, Azure, CI/CD /Cloud

Syneos Health; Hyderabad; On-site; INR 4,000,000 - 7,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Syneos Health seeks a Principal Engineer to provide senior technical leadership across cloud-native AI-enabled platforms. You will mentor teams, drive architecture, and partner with stakeholders to deliver scalable, secure software on Azure/AWS. Hands-on capability and delivery focus are essential.

You will guide architectural decisions, implement modern engineering practices, and champion AI-enabled development to improve productivity and outcomes.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent; 5+ years of software leadership.
• Experience delivering cloud-native solutions on Azure/AWS.
• Proven ability to lead and mentor teams and drive delivery outcomes.
• Strong design of microservices, APIs, and scalable platforms.
• Familiarity with AI-enabled development and modern automation.

Responsibilities

• Provide senior technical leadership for cloud-native software programs.
• Define architectural strategy and lead critical delivery initiatives.
• Mentor engineers, plan resources, and ensure coding standards.
• Design scalable, secure, and maintainable cloud solutions.
• Drive CI/CD, IaC, automated testing, and DevSecOps adoption.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to translate requirements into solutions.

Skills

Engineering leadership

Team management

Delivery excellence

Cloud-native architecture

Azure / AWS

APIs & microservices

CI/CD & DevSecOps

IaC (Terraform/ Pulumi / Bicep)

Generative AI / LLMs

Stakeholder management

Hands-on development

Security & compliance

Problem solving

Soft leadership skills

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science/Engineering/IT

Advanced degree (MS/PhD) preferred

Tools

Azure

AWS

GitHub Actions

Terraform

Pulumi

Azure OpenAI / Azure AI Foundry

Job description

Job Responsibilities

The Principal Engineer provides senior technical leadership and management for software engineering teams responsible for designing, developing, and delivering scalable, secure, and AI-enabled business solutions. This role combines engineering management, solution architecture, and hands-on technical expertise to drive the successful delivery of cloud-native applications and modern software platforms.

The Principal Engineer partners with business stakeholders, product owners, architects, and engineering teams to define technical strategy, translate business requirements into scalable solutions, and ensure the successful execution of complex initiatives. This role is responsible for leading software development teams, guiding architectural decisions, establishing engineering best practices, and fostering a culture of innovation, continuous improvement, and technical excellence.

The ideal candidate brings strong experience in modern software development, cloud-native architectures, AI-enabled solutions, engineering leadership, and delivery execution across Azure, AWS, and other cloud platforms, with preferred experience in Microsoft Azure technologies.

Core Responsibilities

Engineering Leadership & Team Management

• Lead, coach, mentor, and develop software engineers while fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, innovation, and continuous learning.
• Manage engineering resources, workload planning, and delivery commitments across multiple projects and initiatives.
• Establish and promote engineering best practices, development standards, code quality expectations, and technical governance processes.
• Collaborate with project managers, product owners, architects, and business stakeholders to ensure successful project execution and delivery.

Architecture & Solution Design

• Lead technical discovery sessions and partner with stakeholders to gather, analyze, and refine business and technical requirements.
• Own architectural decisions and provide technical leadership throughout the software development lifecycle.
• Design and document scalable, secure, and maintainable cloud-native solutions using modern engineering patterns and best practices.
• Develop architecture diagrams, technical roadmaps, and solution documentation to support decision-making, implementation, and operational support.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and recommend innovative approaches that drive business value and operational efficiency.

Software Engineering & Delivery

• Lead software development teams in the delivery of AI-first, production-ready enterprise and client solutions.
• Participate as a hands-on technical contributor for complex implementation efforts, proof-of-concepts, and critical engineering initiatives.
• Design and implement APIs, event-driven systems, microservices, cloud-native applications, and platform integrations.
• Ensure solutions are designed for scalability, resiliency, security, maintainability, and operational excellence.
• Drive adoption of modern engineering practices including CI/CD, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), automated testing, and DevSecOps methodologies.

AI & Modern Engineering

• Champion the adoption of AI-enabled software development practices and emerging technologies.
• Leverage generative AI, agentic systems, and intelligent automation to improve developer productivity and business outcomes.
• Lead the development and implementation of AI-powered solutions, testing strategies, and automation frameworks.
• Partner with engineering and business teams to identify opportunities for AI innovation and practical application.

Client & Stakeholder Engagement

• Engage directly with stakeholders to understand business objectives, address technical challenges, and provide strategic guidance.
• Facilitate discussions across technical and non-technical audiences to align priorities and communicate complex concepts effectively.
• Support workshops, solution reviews, architecture presentations, and technical demonstrations.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, or a related field; equivalent experience will be considered.
• 5+ years of software engineering experience with demonstrated technical leadership responsibilities.
• Experience managing and mentoring software engineering teams and driving delivery outcomes.
• Strong experience designing and delivering cloud-native applications using Microsoft Azure, AWS, or comparable cloud platforms.
• Preferred experience with Microsoft Azure Servless, PaaS services including App Services, Azure Functions, Container Apps, Azure OpenAI, Azure SQL, GitHub Actions, Azure Key Vault, and related cloud-native capabilities.
• Experience developing modern web applications using technologies such as Python, Node.js, TypeScript, C#, React, Next.js, or similar frameworks.
• Strong understanding of software architecture principles, distributed systems, event-driven architectures, APIs, microservices, and cloud-native design patterns.
• Experience with relational and NoSQL databases including PostgreSQL, SQL Server, MySQL, Cosmos DB, DynamoDB, or similar technologies.
• Experience implementing CI/CD pipelines, Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, Bicep, Pulumi, or similar), and DevOps practices.
• Experience integrating applications, platforms, and third-party systems through APIs and cloud services.
• Familiarity with Generative AI, Large Language Models (LLMs), Agentic AI solutions (e.g.: LangChain, OpenAI Agents SDK), AI-assisted development, and modern automation practices.
• Excellent problem-solving, decision-making, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Proven ability to lead technical workstreams while remaining an effective hands-on contributor.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience leading engineering teams in consulting, professional services, or customer-facing environments.
• Experience building AI-enabled or AI-native software solutions.
• Experience with Azure AI Foundry, Azure OpenAI, machine learning platforms, or intelligent automation technologies.
• Experience with modern testing frameworks, automated quality assurance, performance testing, and observability platforms.
• Experience working in regulated or highly governed enterprise environments.
• Azure, AWS, or related cloud certifications.
• Advanced degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical discipline.