Principal Software Engineer

Weekday (YC W21); Bengaluru; On-site; INR 4,000,000 - 7,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Weekday (YC W21) in Bengaluru seeks a Principal Software Engineer to act as the technical authority for critical distributed database systems. You will shape long-term architectural direction, optimize performance, and raise the engineering bar across multiple teams.

You will lead with deep expertise in C++, Linux internals, and database internals, balancing near-term delivery with scalable, reliable platform evolution.

Qualifications

• Expert-level proficiency in C++ with memory management, concurrency, and performance optimization.
• Deep understanding of database internals, storage engines, transactions, and indexing.
• Extensive experience with distributed databases and large-scale systems.
• Strong grasp of Linux OS internals, scheduling, memory, and I/O subsystems.
• Proven ability to drive architecture across multiple teams without direct management authority.
• Excellent judgment balancing delivery with long-term scalability and reliability.

Responsibilities

• Define long-term architecture and technical direction of core systems including networking, storage, I/O, and hardware interaction.
• Act as technical authority for complex, high-impact systems and performance challenges.
• Lead cross-functional initiatives across subsystems and engineering groups.
• Establish architectural principles, performance standards, and engineering practices.
• Translate business requirements into durable technical strategies and influence roadmaps.
• Mentor engineers and raise the overall systems engineering bar.
• Represent architecture internally and with customers and partners.
• Own benchmarking strategy for throughput, latency, and total cost of ownership.
• Leverage AI/ML to automate test generation, root-cause analysis, and performance insights.
• Collaborate with Sales/Marketing/CS to support enterprise deals with evidence-based performance data.

Skills

C++

Database Systems

Distributed Databases

Distributed Systems

Systems Programming

Performance Optimization

Job description

This role is for one of our clients

Industry: Software Development

Seniority level: Mid-Senior level

Min Experience: 10+ years

Location: Bengaluru

JobType: full-time

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.

We are seeking a highly experienced Principal Software Engineer to serve as a technical authority for critical systems and platform architecture. This role will define and evolve the long-term technical direction of a high-performance, low-latency distributed database and its underlying systems, balancing near-term product delivery with long-term goals around scalability, reliability, performance, and operational efficiency.

The role sits at the intersection of deep technical expertise and organizational influence. You will lead through technical vision, architectural excellence, and mentorship—establishing engineering standards, solving complex cross-system challenges, and aligning technical execution with product and business objectives.

While the role may involve kernel, filesystem, hardware, networking, and low-level I/O concerns, the primary impact will come from shaping systems architecture and technical direction across multiple teams and subsystems.

Requirements

Key Responsibilities

• Define and drive the long-term architecture and technical direction of core systems, particularly across networking, storage, low-level I/O, and hardware interaction
• Act as a technical authority and escalation point for complex, high-impact systems, scalability, reliability, and performance challenges
• Lead cross-functional and cross-team technical initiatives spanning multiple subsystems and engineering groups
• Establish architectural principles, performance standards, engineering practices, and design guidelines across the organization
• Translate customer and business requirements into durable technical strategies and influence product and engineering roadmaps
• Guide and review architecture and design for performance-critical systems, ensuring correctness, consistency, scalability, and maintainability
• Mentor Staff and Senior Staff engineers, helping develop technical leaders and raising the overall systems engineering bar
• Represent systems architecture and technical capabilities internally and, where appropriate, with customers, partners, and the broader technical community
• Own the end-to-end benchmarking strategy, developing rigorous methodologies to demonstrate throughput, latency, scalability, and total cost-of-ownership advantages
• Leverage AI and machine learning models to automate complex test generation, perform root-cause analysis, analyze high-dimensional performance data, and predict system behavior under stress
• Partner closely with Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success teams to provide technical expertise and performance evidence that supports enterprise customer engagements and strategic deals

Minimum Qualifications

• Expert-level proficiency in C/C++, with deep expertise in low-level programming, memory management, concurrency, and performance optimization
• Strong understanding of database internals, including storage engines, query execution, indexing, transactions, and related database architecture
• Deep knowledge of Linux operating-system internals, including scheduling, memory management, I/O subsystems, and system-level performance
• 10–17 years of experience building and operating complex systems software such as distributed databases, networking stacks, kernels, or storage systems
• Proven experience defining and evolving architecture for large-scale, performance-critical production systems
• Demonstrated ability to drive technical decisions and architectural initiatives across multiple teams without direct management authority
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Excellent technical judgment with the ability to balance short-term delivery requirements against long-term platform scalability, reliability, and maintainability

Preferred Qualifications

• Deep experience with large-scale distributed systems and their internals, including distributed storage or database platforms
• Strong understanding of distributed-systems concepts, including the CAP theorem, consistency models, replication, and consensus protocols such as Raft and Paxos
• Advanced knowledge of database internals, ACID properties, indexing techniques, query execution, and storage engines
• Expertise in performance engineering for high-throughput, low-latency systems operating at scale
• Experience with Linux kernel development, filesystem architecture, or advanced operating-system and hardware tuning
• Familiarity with PCIe, NVMe, DMA, RDMA, epoll, io_uring, and other low-level hardware and operating-system interfaces
• Experience establishing or influencing company-wide engineering standards, architecture, and technical direction
• Experience applying AI/ML techniques to performance engineering, automated testing, system diagnostics, or production analysis

Must-Have Skills

• C++
• Database Systems
• Distributed Databases
• Distributed Systems
• Systems Programming
• Performance Optimization

Good-to-Have Skills

• Database Internals
• Linux Kernel
• Storage Systems
• Networking
• AI/ML for Automation
• Performance Engineering