Principal Engineer

Midwest Startups; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 130,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance

401(k) plan

Paid vacation and sick time

Company-paid holidays

Growth and development opportunities

Job summary

Carefeed is looking for a Principal Engineer in Chicago, IL. As a senior technical leader, you'll influence architectural decisions and lead projects while mentoring engineers. Ideal candidates have over 10 years in software engineering and experience in managing engineering teams effectively.

You will play a crucial role in ensuring high-quality software development and guiding engineering practices. This position offers hybrid work flexibility and comprehensive benefits.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of professional software engineering experience.
• Proven success in designing large-scale systems.
• 3+ years of engineering management experience.

Responsibilities

• Own major architectural decisions and drive long-term technical vision.
• Write high-quality, production-ready code and participate in code reviews.
• Coach team members on software design best practices.

Skills

Backend development

Full-stack development

AWS

Engineering management

Software testing

Job description

About Us

Carefeed is an all‑in‑one operations platform to help senior living and long‑term care communities simplify their daily operations. By replacing paperwork, spreadsheets, and disconnected tools with an easy‑to‑use solution, Carefeed saves time, reduces stress, and ensures residents, families, and staff stay informed and connected. Seamlessly integrating with EHRs and HR systems, Carefeed works alongside the tools providers already use—so they can keep everything running smoothly without extra hassle. With transparent pricing, personalized support, and scalable features, Carefeed serves over 1,600 communities, helping staff spend less time on tedious tasks and more time providing great care, keeping families in the loop, and running their communities with confidence. At Carefeed, we help senior living and long‑term care teams lighten their workload, stay organized, and focus on what matters—caring for residents and supporting families. For more information, visit www.carefeed.com.

About the Role

Carefeed is seeking a Principal Engineer to join our growing software engineering team. As one of the most senior technical leaders in the company, you’ll play a critical role in shaping our systems and strategy while remaining highly hands‑on. You’ll lead the design and implementation of major projects, influence key architectural decisions, and may manage up to three engineers.

Our engineering team is preparing for significant growth, and we’re looking for someone who can help guide that journey. If you have experience scaling teams, modernizing engineering practices, and driving technical excellence, we’d love to connect.

Responsibilities

• Technical Leadership: Own major architectural decisions and drive the long‑term technical vision of our product.
• Hands‑On Development: Write high‑quality, production‑ready code; participate in code reviews; ensure best practices in testing, CI/CD, and deployment.
• Drive transformation: Coach existing team members on best practices in software design, testing and operation. Serve as a mentor to other engineers.
• System Architecture: Design scalable, secure, and resilient systems that will support rapid growth and evolving customer needs.
• Mentorship & Management: Lead, mentor, and occasionally manage up to three engineers; provide guidance on technical challenges and career development.
• Drive engineering productivity: Evaluate new technologies, tools, and frameworks that can accelerate development and improve reliability.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of professional software engineering experience, with strong expertise in backend or full‑stack development.
• Proven success designing and implementing large‑scale systems and leading high‑impact projects.
• Deep knowledge of modern software practices, such as continuous deployment and software testing.
• 3+ years of engineering management experience; you’ve been both a technical lead and people manager and understand how to balance the two.
• Strong understanding of AWS (or similar cloud platforms) and the ability to coach teams on modern infrastructure practices.
• Experience working with distributed teams; comfortable leading in a hybrid environment (role based in Chicago, with team members across the U.S., including our Cincinnati HQ).

Work Location

Chicago, IL (Hybrid)

What You’ll Love

• Join a fast‑growing startup making a real impact in the lives of senior care providers and their communities.
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance to support your health and well‑being.
• 401(k) plan to help you plan for the future.
• Paid vacation, sick time, and company‑paid holidays to support work‑life balance.
• A culture that values growth and development, with opportunities to grow your career as we scale.

Carefeed provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.