Principal I Software Engineer

Sabre; Bengaluru; On-site; INR 4,000,000 - 6,500,000; Full time

Job summary

Sabre seeks a Principal Software Engineer to provide architectural leadership across cloud-native platforms and GenAI-enabled enterprise systems. You will guide modernization efforts, drive AI adoption, and shape engineering practices while mentoring senior teams.

The role emphasizes PHP, Java Spring Boot, microservices, and cloud-native patterns to deliver scalable, secure solutions for complex business domains.

Qualifications

• 12–18+ years of software engineering experience.
• Demonstrated success leading enterprise-wide technology transformations.
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, IT, AI, or related field.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive technical vision, architecture, and engineering strategy for multi-product platforms.
• Lead modernization, cloud transformations, and AI adoption across teams.
• Architect scalable enterprise applications using PHP, Java Spring Boot, and microservices.
• Mentor engineers and influence senior leadership on technical direction.

Skills

PHP

Java

Spring Boot

Cloud Native

Distributed Systems

AI/GenAI

REST APIs

Education

Bachelor's/Master's in CS/Engineering

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

CI/CD

Terraform

Service Mesh

Job description

Principal Software Engineer – Cloud, GenAI, Agentic AI & Enterprise Orchestration Platforms

Role Summary

We are seeking an exceptional Principal Software Engineer to provide technical vision, architectural leadership, and hands-on engineering expertise across cloud-native platforms, enterprise applications, and next-generation AI solutions.

This role is responsible for driving large-scale platform modernization, enterprise architecture, AI/ML adoption, Generative AI enablement, and Agentic AI workflows. The ideal candidate combines deep expertise in PHP, Java Spring Boot, Cloud Engineering, Distributed Systems, and AI-powered platforms with a proven track record of influencing engineering strategy across multiple teams and business domains.

As a Principal Engineer, you will act as a technical leader, mentor, and trusted advisor, shaping the future-state architecture and engineering practices while enabling innovation through GenAI and intelligent automation.

Key Responsibilities

• Technical & Strategic Leadership

• Define and drive technical vision, architecture, and engineering strategy across multiple products and platforms.
• Lead cross-functional initiatives spanning application modernization, cloud transformation, platform engineering, and AI adoption.
• Serve as a technical authority for complex architecture and design decisions.
• Establish engineering standards, development frameworks, and best practices across teams.
• Mentor Senior Engineers, Technical Leads, and Engineering Managers.
• Influence technology roadmaps aligned with business and organizational goals.

Enterprise Architecture & Modernization

• Architect and lead the evolution of enterprise applications using PHP, Java Spring Boot, Microservices, and Cloud-Native architectures.
• Drive modernization programs including:
• Monolith to Microservices transformations
• Legacy platform modernization
• Cloud migration and transformation
• Platform consolidation initiatives
• Create scalable reference architectures and reusable engineering patterns.
• Evaluate and introduce emerging technologies that improve business outcomes and engineering productivity.

AI/ML, GenAI & Intelligent Platforms

• Lead design and implementation of AI-enabled enterprise applications and intelligent automation platforms.
• Architect and develop solutions leveraging:
• Large Language Models (LLMs)
• Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)
• Prompt Engineering
• Vector Databases
• Semantic Search
• AI Agents and Multi-Agent Systems
• Design and implement Agentic AI workflows capable of autonomous task orchestration, reasoning, planning, and tool utilization.
• Partner with Data Science and AI teams to operationalize ML models at scale.
• Define AI governance, security, responsible AI practices, and monitoring frameworks.
• Evaluate AI platforms including Azure OpenAI, OpenAI, AWS Bedrock, Google Vertex AI, Anthropic Claude, and enterprise AI ecosystems.
• Drive adoption of AI-assisted engineering and developer productivity tools.

Cloud & Platform Engineering

• Define enterprise cloud architecture across AWS, Azure, and GCP environments.
• Lead platform engineering initiatives that improve developer experience and deployment efficiency.
• Drive Infrastructure-as-Code, GitOps, and automation strategies.
• Lead implementation of:
• Docker
• Kubernetes
• Service Mesh
• API Gateway
• Event-Driven Architectures
• Optimize scalability, resilience, security, and cloud cost management across platforms.

Reliability, Security & Operational Excellence

• Establish enterprise standards for:
• Security
• Reliability
• Availability
• Performance
• Observability
• Drive implementation of monitoring, distributed tracing, logging, and AIOps capabilities.
• Lead architecture reviews, risk assessments, and system resiliency programs.
• Partner with Security and Compliance teams to embed secure-by-design principles.

Collaboration & Executive Influence

• Collaborate with Product, Architecture, Security, Data Science, Platform Engineering, and Business Leadership teams.
• Translate strategic business objectives into scalable technology solutions.
• Present technical strategies, architecture recommendations, and investment proposals to senior leadership.
• Influence engineering culture, innovation, and organizational technical direction.

Required Technical Skills

Software Engineering

• Expert-level experience in PHP (Laravel/Symfony).
• Strong expertise in Java and Spring Boot.
• Proven experience architecting large-scale enterprise systems.
• Deep understanding of:
• Object-Oriented Design
• Domain-Driven Design (DDD)
• Design Patterns
• SOLID Principles
• Distributed Systems
• Strong experience designing REST APIs, GraphQL, and service-oriented architectures.
• Hands-on experience with JavaScript, HTML, CSS, and modern UI integration patterns.

Cloud & Platform Technologies

• Deep expertise in AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud Platform.
• Strong experience with:
• Docker
• Kubernetes
• CI/CD Pipelines
• Infrastructure-as-Code
• Platform Engineering
• Experience with cloud security, identity management, and zero-trust architectures.
• Knowledge of service mesh and modern cloud networking architectures.

AI/ML & GenAI

• Experience building and scaling AI-powered applications in production environments.
• Strong understanding of:
• Machine Learning lifecycle
• MLOps
• Generative AI architectures
• Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)
• Prompt Engineering
• Embedding Models
• Vector Databases
• Knowledge Graphs
• Experience with:
• Azure OpenAI
• OpenAI APIs
• AWS Bedrock
• Google Vertex AI
• LangChain
• Semantic Kernel
• LlamaIndex
• MCP (Model Context Protocol)
• Experience building AI Agent and Agentic Workflow solutions with tool integration and orchestration capabilities.

Data & Integration

• Advanced SQL expertise in PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, or SQL Server.
• Experience with NoSQL databases including MongoDB, DynamoDB, Cassandra, or Cosmos DB.
• Experience with:
• Kafka
• RabbitMQ
• Event Streaming Platforms
• Event-Driven Architecture
• Strong understanding of data governance and data security practices.

Engineering Excellence

• Enterprise-scale architecture leadership.
• High-availability and mission-critical systems design.
• Secure software development lifecycle (SSDLC).
• Observability, AIOps, and operational excellence.
• Scalability and performance optimization.
• Engineering governance and architecture review processes.
• Agile, DevOps, and Platform Engineering practices.

Experience & Qualifications

• 12–18+ years of software engineering experience.
• Proven experience as a Principal Engineer, Staff Engineer, Chief Architect, or Enterprise Architect.
• Demonstrated success leading enterprise-wide technology transformation programs.
• Experience influencing architecture and engineering decisions across multiple teams and business units.
• Strong mentoring and technical leadership experience.
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, Artificial Intelligence, or related field.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience leading enterprise GenAI, AI Agent, or Intelligent Automation initiatives.
• Experience building AI Centers of Excellence (AI CoE) or platform engineering organizations.
• Expertise in AI governance, Responsible AI, and AI security.
• Experience with digital transformation programs in:
• Airlines & Airports
• Banking & Financial Services
• Telecommunications
• Retail & E-commerce
• Logistics & Supply Chain
• Cloud certifications (AWS, Azure, GCP).
• AI/ML certifications and advanced architecture certifications.
• Experience working with executive leadership and enterprise architecture boards.

What Success Looks Like

• Enterprise-wide adoption of scalable cloud-native and AI-powered platforms.
• Successful delivery of GenAI and Agentic AI capabilities that improve business outcomes and productivity.
• Accelerated modernization of legacy systems and applications.
• Consistent architecture standards and engineering excellence across teams.
• Measurable improvements in reliability, security, scalability, and operational efficiency.
• Strong technical mentorship and development of future engineering leaders.
• Recognized as a trusted technical leader driving innovation and business transformation.