Principal Software Development Engineer

Remitly; United States; Hybrid; USD 240,000 - 300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible paid time off

Health, dental, vision + 401k plan

Parental, medical, military and family

Mental Health & Family Forming

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Continuing education and travel

Job summary

Remitly is seeking a Principal Software Development Engineer to lead the design, architecture, and delivery of next‑generation distributed platforms powering our cross‑border payments at global scale. Hybrid work up to 3 days/week in the Seattle area with manager approval.

You will shape multi-year roadmaps, mentor engineers, and drive high-impact initiatives across product and engineering teams. The role requires deep distributed systems expertise, Java or Python, AWS, Docker/Kubernetes, and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in CS, CE, IS or related field with 5+ years in software design and delivery.
• 3+ years developing distributed systems with fault-tolerance, availability, and scalability.
• 3+ years leading design and implementation across multiple workstreams.
• 3+ years driving long-term technical strategy and roadmaps.
• 3+ years using Java or Python to build production software.
• 3+ years designing APIs and microservices for distributed systems.
• 3+ years with AWS core services (S3, SQS, SNS).
• 3+ years with Docker and Kubernetes; Spring framework.
• 3+ years with relational and NoSQL databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL, DynamoDB) and data warehousing (Redshift).
• 3+ years building streaming/event-driven architectures with Kafka/Kinesis.

Responsibilities

• Architect and implement scalable, reliable payment systems across global markets.
• Influence multi-year roadmaps balancing near-term deliverables with long-term scalability.
• Provide technical leadership on cross-team initiatives involving distributed systems and large-scale data processing.
• Set and communicate the technical vision for Remitly's payment platforms with product, compliance and engineering teams.

Skills

Distributed systems

Technical leadership

Java

Python

APIs & microservices

AWS

Docker & Kubernetes

Spring

Databases (SQL/NoSQL)

Kafka/Kinesis

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/CE/IS or related field

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Spring

AWS services (S3/SQS/SNS)

MySQL/PostgreSQL

DynamoDB

Redshift

Kafka

Kinesis

Job description

At Remitly, we believe everyone deserves the freedom to access, move, and manage their money wherever life takes them. Since 2011, we've tirelessly delivered on our promise to customers sending money globally, providing secure, simple, and reliable ways to manage their money, ensuring true peace of mind. Whether it's supporting loved ones back home, growing a business across continents, or pursuing new opportunities abroad, we're not just here to move money- we're here to move our global customers forward.

About the Role

Under the supervision of the Director, Engineering, the Principal Software Development Engineer will drive the design, architecture, and delivery of next-generation distributed platforms and services that power Remitly's cross-border payments business at global scale. Telecommuting available up to 3 days per week within the Seattle, WA area based on manager approval.

You Will

• Architect and implement scalable, reliable, and auditable payment systems to securely track, move, and reconcile money across global markets;
• Influence and drive multi-year technical roadmaps that balance near-term deliverables with long-term scalability, performance, and operational excellence;
• Provide technical leadership on complex, high-impact, cross-team engineering initiatives involving distributed systems and large-scale transaction data processing;
• Set and communicate the technical vision for Remitly's payment platforms and services in collaboration with product, compliance, business development, and engineering teams.

You Have

• Position requires a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Systems, or a directly related technical field, followed by 5 years of progressively responsible experience with technical design, delivery, and monitoring of software applications.
• 3 years of experience with developing distributed systems, including designing fault-tolerant, highly available, and horizontally scalable services supporting large-scale production workloads;
• 3 years of experience with leading the design and implementation of complex software systems, including providing technical direction to teams of engineers across multiple workstreams;
• 3 years of experience with driving long-term technical strategy, including defining architectural roadmaps, setting engineering standards, and influencing technology decisions across multiple engineering teams or platforms;
• 3 years of experience with leveraging general-purpose programming languages (including Java and Python) to design, develop, and maintain production-grade software applications;
• 3 years of experience with designing and architecting APIs and microservices for distributed systems;
• 3 years of experience with engineering solutions on the AWS cloud platform and core services (including S3, SQS, SNS);
• 3 years of experience with leveraging container orchestration tools (including Docker and Kubernetes) and Java application frameworks (including Spring);
• 3 years of experience with designing and scaling relational databases (including MySQL and PostgreSQL), NoSQL databases (including DynamoDB), and data warehousing solutions (including Redshift);
• 3 years of experience with building streaming and event-driven architectures using platforms such as Kafka and Kinesis.

Compensation Details

The starting base salary range for this position is typically $240,000.00 to $300,000.00. In the U.S., Remitly employees are shareholders in our Company and equity is part of our total compensation plan. Your recruiter can share more information about medical benefits offered, as well as other financial benefits and total compensation components offered with this role.

#LI-DNI #FB-DNI #IN-DNI #TW-DNI #GD-DNI

Our Benefits

• Flexible paid time off
• Health, dental, and vision + 401k plan with company matching
• Paid parental, medical, military and family care leave
• Mental Health & Family Forming Benefits
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP)
• Continuing education and travel benefits

Our Connected Work Culture

Driving Innovation, Together

At Remitly, we are dedicated to ensuring that our workplace offers equal employment opportunities to all employees and candidates, in full compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

We are committed to nondiscrimination across our global organization and in all of our business operations. Employment is determined based upon personal capabilities and qualifications without discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, sex, gender identification and expression, marital status, military status or status as