Principal Engineer, Applications & AI-Driven APIs

aires; Pittsburgh (Allegheny County); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401K match

Hybrid work environment

Job summary

Aires, based in Pittsburgh, PA, is seeking a Principal Engineer, Application Software to lead API integrations, DevOps, and AI-driven development. You will guide research, design, and delivery of scalable enterprise software with a strong focus on reliability and security. The role requires deep technical leadership and collaboration across teams.

Hybrid work environment; local candidates only. You will mentor engineers and shape the technology strategy while partnering with leadership on

Qualifications

• 8+ years of professional experience in software engineering.
• 2+ years directly managing engineers with hiring and performance reviews.
• Strong hands-on expertise in Java and its core ecosystems.
• Extensive experience building, securing, and scaling microservices with Spring Boot.
• Experience building or governing external-facing API integrations with client/vendor systems, including contract design, versioning, SLA management.
• Hands-on experience with AWS (Lambda, S3, DynamoDB, EC2).
• Proficiency in relational databases, writing complex SQL queries and PL/SQL.
• Git version control in multi-developer environments.
• Experience in Agile/Scrum development and leading as a lead developer.
• Strong analytical skills and ability to understand complex system logic.
• Experience with unit and integration testing using JUnit and ensuring code coverage.

Responsibilities

• Directly manage API Integrations, Research, and DevOps teams, including hiring and performance reviews.
• Oversee development strategy for key software products and lead engineers through research, development, and design.
• Develop highly scalable RESTful APIs and microservices using Java and Spring Boot, focusing on client/vendor integrations.
• Leverage AI-assisted tools like Kiro IDE to accelerate development and champion adoption.
• Lead exploration of emerging AI initiatives, including GenAI features, in the platform roadmap.
• Provide technical leadership by translating business requirements into technical solutions and mentoring engineers.
• Design and optimize complex database schemas, write SQL queries, and develop PL/SQL procedures.
• Ensure code quality and standards through code reviews, best practices, security, and test coverage.
• Ensure products are fit for purpose, coordinating with QA to resolve validation issues.
• Follow Agile practices with Product Owners and Scrum Masters to translate requirements into tasks.
• Facilitate cross-functional communication and own delivery governance for APIs and integrations.
• Set DevOps standards, CI/CD pipelines, environments, and release orchestration.
• Guide Research in evaluating emerging technologies and proposing production-ready initiatives.
• Maintain security and observability and contribute to cloud-native deployments.
• Take on ad hoc projects as business priorities require.

Skills

Java

Spring Boot

RESTful APIs

Microservices

AWS

SQL/PLSQL

DevOps

Git

Agile/Scrum

Mentorship

Unit & Integration Tests

Technical Communication

Tools

Kiro IDE

Docker

Job description

Aires, based in Pittsburgh, PA, is seeking a Principal Engineer, Application Software to lead API integrations, DevOps, and AI-driven development. You will guide research, design, and delivery of scalable enterprise software with a strong focus on reliability and security. The role requires deep technical leadership and collaboration across teams.

Hybrid work environment; local candidates only. You will mentor engineers and shape the technology strategy while partnering with leadership on