Principal Engineer

remote work; United States; Remote; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation support

Flexible work

Healthcare Coverage

Education Budget

Wellness Budget

Vacation Policy

Job summary

Unknown is seeking a Principal Engineer to scale the engineering organization, reduce system complexity, and define a sustainable technical direction on top of a mature platform.

You will operate at the system level, align architectural decisions across teams, lead RFCs and design reviews, and influence long‑term technical strategy with clear principles.

This role rewards thoughtful trade-offs, proactive risk management, and bold but thoughtful leadership in a high‑visibility environment.

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

• Define and maintain company-wide architectural principles.
• Align technical decisions across teams and domains.
• Identify and reduce architectural and organizational complexity.
• Lead RFCs, architecture reviews, and design discussions.
• Influence technical decisions across the organization.
• Participate in major incident analysis and systemic problem solving.

Skills

System thinking

Distributed systems

Leadership

Architectural decisions

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 ahighly 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 alarge 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: Annual leave and paid sick leave as per applicable policies