Principal Software Development Engineer, Navigation

Mapbox; Germany (OH); Remote; USD 150,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading location platform is seeking a Principal Software Development Engineer to guide the technical direction for Navigation products. The ideal candidate will have over 15 years of engineering experience and strong knowledge in coding, cloud services, and collaborative work. This role involves leading a global team, innovate new technologies, and ensure an exceptional customer experience, in a fast-paced environment that values diversity and creativity.

Benefits

Flexible work environment

Supportive health care

Parental leave

Qualifications

• Over 15 years of engineering experience required.
• Strong track record with coding and technical domain knowledge.
• Passion for clean code and robust architecture.

Responsibilities

• Develop and guide long-term technical direction for Navigation.
• Lead a global team of up to 80 engineers.
• Collaborate on complex technical requirements.

Skills

C/C++

Python

Javascript

Typescript

Cloud proficiency

Education

Masters and/or PhD in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Mathematics

Tools

AWS RDS

Google Cloud Spanner

Azure SQL

Job description

What We Do

Mapbox is the leading real-time location platform for a new generation of location-aware businesses. Mapbox equips organizations with the full set of tools to power the navigation of people, packages, and vehicles everywhere. More than 3.5 million registered developers have chosen Mapbox because of the platform’s flexibility, security and privacy compliance. Organizations use Mapbox applications, data, SDKs and APIs to create customized and immersive experiences that delight their customers.

What You'll Do

As a Principal Software Development Engineer, you will lead the technical excellence, innovation, and execution for the Navigation organization, specifically shaping the future of the Navigation product.

In this strategic role, you will define the technical vision for all Navigation products, aligning their individual initiatives with the broader Navigation and Mapbox organizational goals working hands-on with cross-functional Product partners, Directors, SVP of Location Services, CTO, and globally distributed Mapbox Engineers and Engineering Managers. You will drive the development of secure, frictionless product experiences while designing and building large-scale systems from the ground up. This highly collaborative, fast-paced environment offers the opportunity to influence how teams leverage data to innovate and support business growth. We are seeking a seasoned leader with deep expertise in distributed systems, a passion for customer experience and experimentation, and the ability to mentor and inspire across the organization.

As a Principal Software Development Engineer you can expect to:

• Develop the Roadmap: Set and guide the long-term technical direction and roadmap for the Navigation organization, aligning with Mapbox’s business objectives while driving innovation.

• Shape the Vision: Lead and mentor a global team of about 80 engineers through the design, development, and execution of critical engineering components to shape the vision for exceptional customer experience.

• Promote Collaboration: Collaborate across teams to uncover and align complex technical requirements, evaluate design trade-offs, and influence product direction.

• Proactively Innovate: Evaluate, prototype, and roll out new technologies/frameworks to cultivate a culture of innovation that supports and scales for the company’s expansion into new markets.

• Advocate for Customers: Engage directly with customers to understand their needs, travel as needed to meet with them, discuss ideas and solutions, and effectively relay insights back to the team.

What We Believe are Important Traits for This Role

• 15+ years of engineering experience: Extensive hands-on experience showcasing expertise and a strong track record in the field.

• Technical domain knowledge: Extensive experience coding in languages such as C/C++, Python, Javascript, Typescript. Deep knowledge of data structures, algorithms, design patterns, memory management, multithreading, and performance optimization for high-efficiency applications.

• Cloud proficiency: Extensive experience with cloud database services, including AWS RDS, Google Cloud Spanner, and Azure SQL, as well as deploying and managing databases in cloud environments.

• Operational excellence: You drive a culture of quality and continuous improvement in your organization. A passion for clean code and robust architecture, with a drive to elevate engineering practices and design standards across the team.

• Ownership & execution: Own the technical vision, lead the strategy and guide the team to execute towards building the future of Navigation. Experience leading with empathy across globally distributed engineering teams.

• Customer focus: You care deeply about your customers and their problems, and you work tirelessly to innovate on their behalf.

• Growth mindset: Have the humility to accept mistakes, learn and grow from them.

• Partnership: Experience collaborating across teams and domains including product, executives, design and key stakeholders to help drive key search decisions that influence the business.

• Strong written and vocal communication skills: You can explain complex ideas concisely to a wide audience. You can lead and resolve company-wide technical discussions with input from cross-functional teams.

• Data-informed mindset: You value data-driven decision making and know how to measure essential, sometimes non-obvious metrics. You also have the instincts to make speedy decisions when data is not perfect.

• Experience bringing products to market: You have a proven track record of shipping successful products, coordinating deadlines, pricing, marketing strategy, and enabling support teams.

• High standards for work: You drive a culture of quality and balance between quality and velocity.

Valuable But Not Required Experience

• Prior experience in Maps and/or Navigation. While domain expertise is valuable, at our core, we are technical, customer-focused, curious, adaptive, and eager to transform customer experiences.

• Advanced degree (Masters and/or PhD) in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field.

What We Value

In addition to our core values, which are not unique to this position and are necessary for Mapbox leaders:

• We value high-performing creative individuals who dig into problems and opportunities.

• We believe in individuals being their whole selves at work. We commit to this through supportive health care, parental leave, flexibility for life events, and innovating on how we think about supporting our people.

• We emphasize an environment of teaching and learning to equip employees with the tools needed to be successful in their function and the company.

• We strongly believe in the value of growing a diverse team and encourage people of all backgrounds, genders, ethnicities, abilities, and sexual orientations to apply.

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Mapbox is an EEO Employer - Minority/Female/Veteran/Disabled/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity.

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