Principal Backend Engineer - Core

hardrockdigital; United States; Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive pay and benefits

Flexible vacation allowance

Flexible work from home or officeHours

Startup culture backed by a global,名

Job summary

Hard Rock Digital is building a premier online sportsbook, casino and social gaming platform. We are seeking a Principal Backend Engineer to lead from the code and architecture, collaborating with product and engineering leadership to shape scalable systems.

You will mentor engineers, own complex backend designs, and champion AI-assisted development practices. If you have 10+ years in distributed systems and a CS degree or equivalent, join us to influence how millions of customers interact with

Qualifications

• Proven experience operating at staff or principal level.
• Deep backend engineering expertise with distributed systems at scale.
• Experience with Java is a strong advantage; focus on backend systems thinking.
• Strong communication skills to explain complex decisions to non-technical stakeholders.
• Hands-on experience with AI-assisted development tools.

Responsibilities

• Be a technical point of contact for various stakeholders.
• Be hands-on in both coding and architecture, leading from the front.
• Partner closely with Engineering and Product leadership to shape roadmaps and make high-quality trade-offs that maximise business and customer impact.
• Mobilise the team around high-impact problems, creating clarity, alignment and momentum, injecting urgency when needed, or slowing things down to ensure safety and long-term sustainability.
• Lead and influence architectural direction for the most complex systems, ensuring cohesive and scalable designs
• Set and uphold a high bar for technical excellence across the team, driving improvements in quality, readability and scalability, and fostering a culture where engineers hold each other to that standard.
• Proactively mentor, sponsor and develop senior engineers, multiplying your impact by enabling others to operate at a higher level.
• Leading and influencing engineers in the team without direct authority - through code, design reviews and technical mentorship
• Spotting and resolving cross-team technical dependencies before they become blockers
• Champion the adoption of AI-assisted development practices and tools across the team, helping raise the bar on engineering velocity and code qual

Skills

Distributed systems design

Backend architecture

Technical leadership

AI-assisted development

Education

Degree in computer science or related field (10+ years)

Tools

Java

Job description

What are we building?

Hard Rock Digital is focused on becoming the best online sportsbook, casino, and social gaming company in the world. We’re building a place that resonates passion for learning, operating and building new products and technologies for millions of consumers. We care about each customer's interaction, experience, behavior, and insight and strive to ensure we’re always acting authentically.

Rooted in the kindred spirits of Hard Rock and the Seminole Tribe of Florida, the new Hard Rock Digital taps a brand known the world over as the leader in gaming, entertainment, and hospitality. We’re taking that foundation of success and bringing it to the digital space - ready to join us?

What’s the position?

A Principal Backend Engineer at Hard Rock Digital is a hands‑on engineering leadership (IC) position.

As a Principal Backend Engineer you will:

• Be a technical point of contact for various stakeholders.
• Be hands‑on in both coding and architecture, leading from the front.
• Partner closely with Engineering and Product leadership to shape roadmaps and make high-quality trade‑offs that maximise business and customer impact.
• Mobilise the team around high‑impact problems, creating clarity, alignment and momentum, injecting urgency when needed, or slowing things down to ensure safety and long‑term sustainability.
• Lead and influence architectural direction for the most complex systems, ensuring cohesive and scalable designs
• Set and uphold a high bar for technical excellence across the team, driving improvements in quality, readability and scalability, and fostering a culture where engineers hold each other to that standard.
• Proactively mentor, sponsor and develop senior engineers, multiplying your impact by enabling others to operate at a higher level.
• Leading and influencing engineers in the team without direct authority - through code, design reviews and technical mentorship
• Spotting and resolving cross‑team technical dependencies before they become blockers
• Champion the adoption of AI‑assisted development practices and tools across the team, helping raise the bar on engineering velocity and code qual

What are we looking for?

• Demonstrable experience operating at staff or principal level
• Deep backend engineering expertise with a track record of designing and building distributed systems at scale
• The kind of judgment that earns trust fast – engineers follow your technical lead because you’re right, not because of your title
• Experience with Java is a strong advantage; we’re less concerned about specific languages that we are about depth of backend systems thinking
• Solid understanding of Core account infrastructure and geolocation flows
• Strong written and verbal communication; you can make complex technical decisions legible to non‑technical stakeholders
• Hands‑on experience using AI‑assisted development tools (e.g. GitHub Copilot, Claude Code, Cursor) in your day‑to‑day workflow, with a genuine enthusiasm for how AI is changing software engineering, and a track record of championing AI‑assisted practices - in software development, system design, testing, operations, or troubleshooting - while understanding their limitations and trade‑offs.
• Degree in computer science, a related field, or equivalent work experience (10+ years)

What’s in it for you?

We offer our employees more than just competitive compensation. Our team benefits include:

• Competitive pay and benefits
• Flexible vacation allowance
• Flexible work from home or office hours
• Startup culture backed by a secure, global brand
• Opportunity to build products enjoyed by millions as part of a passionate team

Roster of Uniques

We care deeply about every interaction our customers have with us, and trust and empower our principal to own and drive their experience. Our vision for our business and customers is built on fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment where regardless of background or beliefs you feel able to be authentic and bring all your talent into play. We want to celebrate you being you (we are an equal opportunities employer).