Principal Engineer

Ladders; United States; Remote; USD 264,000 - 396,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible time off

Comprehensive health benefits (medical

Parental leave & fertility support

Telehealth and financial planning

Job summary

Ladders is seeking a Principal Engineer to lead a large-scale software environment in a remote US-based role. The position shapes technical direction and drives a multi-year architecture strategy across the domain, partnering with engineering leadership to improve design quality and delivery.

You will drive production-ready system design and influence reusable patterns that scale across teams. Responsibilities include mentoring Staff and Senior engineers, aligning with roadmaps and resource

Qualifications

• 15+ years of experience in large-scale enterprise web or SaaS applications.
• 7+ years in senior IC roles.
• Proven track record designing and shipping large-scale distributed systems.
• Deep expertise in at least one primary technology stack such as C#/.NET, Java, or C++.
• Strong command of distributed systems fundamentals: event-driven, asynchronous, concurrency, fault tolerance, performance.
• Hands-on experience with cloud infrastructure (Azure, AWS, or GCP).
• Solid grounding in data architecture: relational, NoSQL, vector databases, distributed persistence.
• Familiarity with AI/ML systems and LLM-based architectures.

Responsibilities

• Define the technical vision for your domain and guide execution over an 18+ month horizon.
• Produce complete, production-ready system designs and lead implementation efforts.
• Set engineering standards through code reviews and architecture assessments.
• Identify opportunities for shared systems and reusable patterns across teams.
• Coach and mentor Staff and Senior engineers in design and architecture.
• Partner with engineering leadership on roadmap and resource planning.
• Assess candidates for senior technical roles and uphold engineering bar.

Skills

Distributed systems design

Technical leadership

Staff/Senior mentoring

Code reviews

Cross-team collaboration

Tools

Azure

AWS

GCP

Job description

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

This role will shape the technical direction for a large-scale software environment and help deliver a multi-year architecture strategy across the domain. You will drive production-ready system design, improve engineering consistency, and influence reusable patterns that can scale across teams. The position also involves close partnership with engineering leadership and senior technical talent to strengthen design quality and execution.

Location: Remote

Compensation: $263,800 – $395,600 annually

Responsibilities

• Define the technical vision for your domain and ensure execution over an 18+ month horizon
• Produce complete, production-ready system designs and lead implementation efforts
• Set the standard for engineering excellence through code reviews and architecture assessments
• Identify opportunities for shared systems and reusable patterns across teams
• Coach and mentor Staff and Senior engineers in technical design and architecture
• Partner with engineering leadership on roadmap and resource planning
• Assess candidates for senior technical roles and help uphold the engineering bar

Qualifications

• 15+ years of experience in large-scale enterprise web or SaaS applications, with 7+ years in senior IC roles
• Proven track record of designing and shipping large-scale distributed systems
• Deep expertise in at least one primary technology stack, such as C#/.NET, Java, or C++
• Strong command of distributed systems fundamentals, including event-driven architecture, asynchronous programming, concurrency, fault tolerance, and performance tuning
• Hands-on experience with cloud infrastructure, such as Azure, AWS, or GCP
• Solid grounding in data architecture, including relational, NoSQL, vector databases, and distributed persistence
• Familiarity with AI/ML systems and LLM-based architectures

Benefits

• Flexible time off with learning and development opportunities
• Comprehensive health benefits including medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Support for parental leave, fertility services, and adoption reimbursement
• Access to telehealth options and financial planning tools

Our client is an equal opportunity employer.