Principal Architect (Engineer)

engine; United States; Hybrid; USD 206,000 - 285,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Hybrid work model

Annual bonus potential

Job summary

engine is seeking a Principal Engineer to lead the evolution of a high-scale platform from monoliths to distributed services. This role combines architecture, hands-on problem solving, technical strategy, and cross-team influence to keep systems scalable, reliable, and aligned with long-term business needs.

You will guide teams in modular design, decomposition of monoliths, API boundaries, and platform evolution while mentoring engineers and shaping the technical roadmap.

Qualifications

• At least 12 years of experience designing and evolving large-scale distributed systems.
• Proven ability to lead major technical initiatives across multiple teams.
• Experience with architecture, APIs, and service boundaries; AWS preferred.

Responsibilities

• Define architectural principles and guide teams toward modular, loosely coupled services.
• Lead the decomposition of monolithic applications into distributed systems with clear ownership.
• Shape the technical roadmap, including decisions about data flow, service interactions, APIs, and platform evolution.
• Work directly with engineers on complex design and implementation challenges while maintaining high engineering standards.
• Mentor engineers and influence technical direction across teams without relying on direct authority.
• Balance architectural best practices with pragmatic delivery constraints and business priorities.

Skills

Distributed systems design

Leadership of technical initiatives

Modular system design

APIs and service boundaries

Cloud architecture (AWS)

Excellent communication

Job description

Role overview

Lead the technical evolution of a high-scale platform as it moves from monolithic applications toward a distributed architecture. This principal-level engineering role combines architecture, hands‑on problem solving, technical strategy, and cross‑team influence, with responsibility for keeping systems scalable, reliable, maintainable, and aligned with long‑term business needs.

Responsibilities

• Define architectural principles and guide teams toward modular, loosely coupled, maintainable services.
• Lead the decomposition of monolithic applications into distributed systems with clear ownership and service boundaries.
• Shape the technical roadmap, including decisions about data flow, service interactions, APIs, and platform evolution.
• Work directly with engineers on complex design and implementation challenges while maintaining high engineering standards.
• Mentor engineers and influence technical direction across teams without relying on direct authority.
• Balance architectural best practices with pragmatic delivery constraints and business priorities.

Requirements

• At least 12 years of experience designing and evolving large-scale distributed systems.
• A record of leading major technical initiatives across multiple teams and influencing organization‑level engineering direction.
• Deep expertise in modular system design, monolith decomposition, APIs, service boundaries, and interoperability.
• Strong knowledge of distributed‑system patterns, including event‑driven architectures, consistency models, and REST, gRPC, or messaging‑based communication.
• Experience designing reliable and scalable systems in cloud environments; AWS experience is preferred.
• Excellent judgment, communication, and collaboration skills, including the ability to guide decisions in ambiguous situations.

Benefits and work setup

• Base pay range of $205,950–$285,000 USD, with equity for employees; some roles may also include an annual bonus.
• Hybrid-hub working model, with support for either office‑based or fully remote work depending on role and location.
• Benefits and perks may vary by employment type and location.