Principal Engineer

Ladders; United States; Remote; USD 265,000 - 300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision

HSA contributions

401(k) matching

Equity incentive plan

Annual bonus opportunity

Remote-first culture

Co-working space reimbursement

Flexible vacation

Summer Fridays

Home office stipend

Internet stipend

Learning and development stipend

Job summary

Ladders is seeking a Principal Engineer to shape architectural direction across the engineering organization in a healthcare technology environment. The role focuses on refactoring, domain ownership, and independent team delivery within a shared codebase, with strong technical judgment and hands-on leadership.

The ideal candidate has extensive software delivery experience, excels at cross-team alignment, and can guide architecture decisions while coding on critical paths.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of software delivery experience, including significant time at Staff level or above.
• Proven track record in setting architecture across multiple teams or an entire engineering organization, preferably in Ruby on Rails or similar stacks.
• Experience leading large-scale refactoring or decomposition of shared domain models, with insight into successes and challenges.
• Ability to make high-stakes technical decisions under ambiguity and align teams around them.
• Hands-on experience with AI coding tools and their impact on architecture and engineering practices.
• Strong written communication skills for driving alignment through design documents and decision records.
• Must reside in the U.S.

Responsibilities

• Define architectural standards and target state for the division to support coherent system evolution.
• Drive large-scale refactoring for clear domain ownership and team independence within a shared codebase.
• Transform ambiguous, cross-team problems into clear directions and actionable plans.
• Lead technical discussions through Architecture Decision Documents and transparent decision-making.
• Set standards for AI-native engineering practices and raise code quality expectations.
• Prototype quickly and write production code on critical paths while favoring incremental rollouts.
• Lead technical discovery and feasibility assessments, balancing engineering investment with business impact.

Skills

Leadership

Architectural direction

Cross-team collaboration

Written communication

Tools

Ruby on Rails

AI coding tools

Job description

For our client, we are seeking a Principal Engineer to join the team of a leader in the Healthcare space.

This role will shape architectural direction across the engineering organization, driving coherence and scalability in a complex healthcare technology environment. You will lead major refactoring efforts, clarify domain ownership, and help teams operate with greater independence in a shared codebase. The position also calls for strong technical judgment, clear written communication, and hands-on leadership on critical engineering paths.

Location: Remote

Compensation: $265,000 – $300,000 annually

Responsibilities

• Define architectural standards and target state for the division to support coherent system evolution


• Drive large-scale refactoring for clear domain ownership and team independence within a shared codebase


• Transform ambiguous, cross-team problems into clear directions and actionable plans


• Lead technical discussions through Architecture Decision Documents and transparent decision-making


• Set standards for AI-native engineering practices and raise code quality expectations


• Prototype quickly and write production code on critical paths while favoring incremental rollouts


• Lead technical discovery and feasibility assessments, balancing engineering investment with business impact

Qualifications

• 12+ years of software delivery experience, including significant time at Staff level or above


• Proven track record in setting architecture across multiple teams or an entire engineering organization, preferably in Ruby on Rails or similar stacks


• Experience leading large-scale refactoring or decomposition of shared domain models, with insight into successes and challenges


• Ability to make high-stakes technical decisions under ambiguity and align teams around them


• Hands-on experience with AI coding tools and their impact on architecture and engineering practices


• Strong written communication skills for driving alignment through design documents and decision records


• Must reside in the U.S.

Benefits

• Comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision Coverage with low-to-no-cost premiums


• Employer contributions to Health Savings Accounts (HSA)


• 401(k) Retirement Plan with company matching


• Equity Incentive Plan for employee ownership


• Annual company-wide bonus opportunity based on performance


• Remote-first culture with options for co-working space reimbursement


• Flexible vacation policy to promote work-life balance


• Summer Fridays: 5 additional Fridays off during summer months


• Stipends for home office setup and wellness initiatives


• Monthly internet stipend and annual learning and development stipend

Our client is an equal opportunity employer. We encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet every qualification—your background could be exactly what this team needs.