Principal Engineer

platacard; United States; Remote; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation support to multiple hubs

Flexible work from offices or remote

Healthcare Coverage

Education Budget for training

Wellness Budget

Vacation policy: 20 days + sick leave

Job summary

platacard is seeking a Principal Engineer to scale our engineering organization, reduce system complexity, and define a sustainable technical direction built on a mature platform. You will operate at the system level, align architectural decisions across teams, and address long-term technical risks, partnering with senior engineers, tech leads, and leadership to translate vision into durable standards.

If you enjoy shaping the technical future, tackling complex architectural challenges at scale,

Qualifications

• Experience in a large engineering organization (300+ engineers).
• Hands-on experience with complex distributed systems.
• Proven impact on architectural decisions beyond your own team.
• Experience with architectural mistakes, refactoring, and incidents.
• Strong system-level thinking and understanding of trade-offs.
• Clear communication and ability to work through disagreement.

Responsibilities

• Defining and maintaining company-wide architectural principles.
• Aligning technical decisions across teams and domains.
• Identifying and reducing architectural and organizational complexity.
• Leading RFCs, architecture reviews, and design discussions.
• Influencing technical decisions.
• Participating in major incident analysis and systemic problem solving.

Skills

System thinking

Distributed systems

Architectural leadership

Communication

Risk management

Job description

We are looking for a Principal Engineer to help scale our engineering organization, reduce system complexity, and define a sustainable technical direction, building on top of a mature and evolving platform.

You will operate at the system level, working across teams and domains to align architectural decisions, improve engineering practices, and address long-term technical risks. Partnering closely with senior engineers, tech leads, and engineering leadership, you will help turn technical vision into clear principles, shared standards, and sustainable solutions.

This role calls for a highly experienced technical leader with strong system thinking, sound engineering judgment, and the ability to influence without formal authority. You are comfortable navigating ambiguity, making trade-offs, and engaging in constructive technical debate — always with a focus on long-term impact rather than short-term wins.

If you want to shape the technical future of an organization, and tackle complex architectural challenges at scale, this role is for you.

Challenges that await you:

• Defining and maintaining company-wide architectural principles
• Aligning technical decisions across teams and domains
• Identifying and reducing architectural and organizational complexity
• Leading RFCs, architecture reviews, and design discussions
• Influencing technical decisions
• Participating in major incident analysis and systemic problem solving

What makes you a great fit:

• Experience in a large engineering organization (300+ engineers)
• Hands-on experience with complex distributed systems
• Proven impact on architectural decisions beyond your own team
• Experience with architectural mistakes, refactoring, and incidents
• Strong system-level thinking and understanding of trade-offs
• Clear communication and ability to work through disagreement

Our ways of working:

• Innovative Spirit: A commitment to creativity and groundbreaking solutions
• Honest Feedback: valuing open, transparent communication
• Supportive Team: a strong, collaborative community
• Celebrating Achievements: recognizing our wins together
• High-Tech Environment: a team full of smart and revolutionary people who date to challenge the status quo of incumbent finances

Our benefits:

• Relocation support to one of our hubs — Cyprus, Georgia, Serbia or Spain — with assistance for the employee and their family
• Flexible work from one of our offices or remote
• Healthcare Coverage
• Education Budget: Language lessons, professional training and certifications
• Wellness Budget: Mental health and fitness activity reimbursements
• Vacation policy: 20 days of annual leave and paid sick leave