Principal Architect (Engineer)

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

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Annual bonus

Hybrid-hub working model

Job summary

engine is seeking a principal-level engineer to lead the technical evolution of a high-scale platform as it migrates from monoliths to distributed architectures. You will blend architecture, hands-on problem solving, and technical strategy while guiding cross-team efforts to keep systems scalable, reliable, and aligned with long-term business goals.

The role emphasizes decomposing monoliths, shaping roadmaps, mentoring engineers, and balancing best practices with pragmatic delivery in a

Qualifications

• At least 12 years of experience designing and evolving large-scale distributed systems.
• Proven record leading major technical initiatives across multiple teams and influencing 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 preferred.
• Excellent judgment, communication, and collaboration skills, including guiding decisions in ambiguous situations.

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.

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.