Principal Backend Architect - Enterprise Data Services

Autodesk; Atlanta (GA); On-site; USD 139,000 - 249,000; Full time

Job summary

Autodesk's Enterprise Data Management (EDM) team seeks a Principal Software Engineer - Backend to set the technical direction for large-scale backend systems. This senior, highly autonomous role operates at the Principal (P4) level, guiding architecture and reliability across multiple teams.

You will own critical APIs and event-driven pipelines, mentor engineers, and collaborate with product and data leaders to deliver scalable, resilient data services.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience
• 10+ years of professional software engineering experience with backend and distributed systems
• Experience building enterprise platform services used by multiple teams
• Python + AWS + API + backend services integration experience
• Proven expertise building and operating backend services and APIs at scale
• Strong distributed systems design experience including asynchronous processing, messaging, and fault tolerance
• Deep hands-on AWS and cloud-native architectures experience
• Ownership of mission-critical systems with long-term maintainability
• Strong fundamentals in system design, API design, testing, CI/CD, and IaC
• Ability to influence architecture across teams without formal authority
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Responsibilities

• Lead design of principal backend systems and APIs for large-scale enterprise use
• Drive architecture choices and technical strategy across multiple teams
• Shape event-driven, scalable services with strong reliability guarantees
• Define service and API standards including versioning and backward compatibility
• Act as technical decision-maker for cross-team initiatives
• Improve observability, incident response, and post-incident learning
• Promote engineering best practices in design reviews, testing, and production readiness
• Mentor senior engineers and rising leaders via coaching and example
• Collaborate with product, data, and platform leaders to translate business problems into technical solutions
• Remain hands-on in critical system design and high-severity incident work

Skills

Backend systems

Distributed systems

Python

AWS

API design

CI/CD

Communication

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in CS or related field

Tools

Kafka

Kinesis

Snowflake

Job description

Autodesk's Enterprise Data Management (EDM) team seeks a Principal Software Engineer - Backend to set the technical direction for large-scale backend systems. This senior, highly autonomous role operates at the Principal (P4) level, guiding architecture and reliability across multiple teams.

You will own critical APIs and event-driven pipelines, mentor engineers, and collaborate with product and data leaders to deliver scalable, resilient data services.