Principal Software Engineer

Autodesk; Atlanta (GA); Hybrid; USD 139,000 - 249,000; Full time

Job summary

Autodesk, a global leader in 3D design and engineering software, is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to provide deep technical leadership on a large-scale data platform. You will own architecture decisions spanning multiple systems and partner with product, architecture, and engineering teams to shape the platform roadmap.

This role requires hands-on expertise in distributed systems, data pipelines, cloud services, and API design.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field or equivalent.
• 8+ years of professional software development experience with distributed backend systems.
• Strong proficiency in a modern backend language and library/framework development.
• Experience designing asynchronous or workflow-based systems at production scale.
• Experience with major public cloud platforms including serverless, NoSQL and object storage.
• API design and implementation with schema validation, versioning, and backward compatibility.
• Ability to design data models and drive system behavior from configuration.
• Track record leading architecture across multiple teams.

Responsibilities

• Set the technical direction for core platform subsystems and drive architectural alignment across teams.
• Turn ambiguous requirements into concrete platform capabilities and document tradeoffs.
• Design and review complex changes to distributed services and data models with focus on correctness and data integrity.
• Lead cross-team initiatives and resolve systemic issues in reliability and performance.
• Establish and evolve engineering standards and mentor engineers across teams.
• Partner with senior leaders, architects, DevOps, Support, and product orgs on platform strategy and incident response.

Skills

Distributed backend systems

API design

Public cloud platforms

Serverless compute

Data modeling

Architecture leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Job description

Job Requisition ID

26WD97962

Position Overview

As a global leader in 3D design, engineering, and entertainment software, Autodesk helps people imagine, design and create a better world. Autodesk accelerates better design through an unparalleled depth of experience and a broad portfolio of software to give customers the power to solve their design, business, and environmental challenges. In addition to designers, architects, engineers, and media and entertainment professionals, Autodesk helps students, educators, and casual creators unlock their creative ideas through user-friendly applications.

Autodesk's Digital Experience Engineering team builds the platforms behind the digital experiences that millions of customers use worldwide. We are looking for a Principal Software Engineer to provide deep technical leadership on a large-scale data platform, and to turn complex requirements into a coherent, scalable architecture.

As a Principal Engineer, you will be a recognized technical expert on distributed systems, data pipelines, and high-throughput services in the cloud. You will own architecture decisions that span multiple systems and teams. You will partner with product, architecture, and engineering groups to shape the platform roadmap. You will report to a Software Development Manager and this is a hybrid work mode.

Responsibilities

• Set the technical direction for core platform subsystems and drive architectural alignment across teams and codebases.
• Turn ambiguous product and partner requirements into concrete platform capabilities, and document the tradeoffs for engineering and product leadership.
• Design and review complex changes to distributed services and data models, with attention to correctness, concurrency, and data integrity.
• Lead cross-team initiatives, and identify and resolve systemic issues in reliability, performance, and developer productivity.
• Establish and evolve engineering standards, and coach engineers across teams to adopt them Partner with senior leaders, architects, DevOps, Support, and product organizations on platform strategy, capacity planning, and incident response.
• Mentor engineers through design reviews, code reviews, and architecture deep dives.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 8+ years of professional software development experience, including significant time designing and operating distributed backend systems in production.
• Strong proficiency in a modern backend language, and experience building libraries or frameworks used by other engineering teams.
• Experience designing and operating asynchronous or workflow-based systems at production scale.
• Strong experience with a major public cloud platform, including serverless compute, NoSQL storage, object storage, and event-driven integration.
• Expertise in API design and implementation, including schema validation, versioning, and backwards compatibility.
• Demonstrated ability to design data models and to drive system behavior from configuration.
• Track record of leading architecture across multiple teams, and of influencing technical direction through written design documents.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with ETL or data pipeline platforms that ingest, transform, and deliver data at scale.
• Strong data management background, including schema design, versioning, and data quality.
• Experience with extensible integration patterns, such as plugin or connector frameworks for heterogeneous sources.
• Background in developer experience and platform tooling.
• Experience operating regulated or multi-region environments.
• Exposure to AI/ML-driven workflows, such as embeddings, search relevance, or data enrichment.

About Autodesk

Welcome to Autodesk! Amazing things are created every day with our software - from the greenest buildings and cleanest cars to the smartest factories and biggest hit movies. We help innovators turn their ideas into reality, transforming not only how things are made, but what can be made.

We take great pride in our culture here at Autodesk - it's at the core of everything we do. Our culture guides the way we work and treat each other, informs how we connect with customers and partners, and defines how we show up in the world.

When you're an Autodesker, you can do meaningful work that helps build a better world designed and made for all. Ready to shape the world and your future? Join us!

Benefits

From health and financial benefits to time away and everyday wellness, we give Autodeskers the best, so they can do their best work. Learn more about our benefits in the U.S. by visiting https://benefits.autodesk.com/

Salary transparency

Salary is one part of Autodesk's competitive compensation package. For U.S.-based roles, we expect a starting base salary between $139,000 and $249,260. Offers are based on the candidate's experience and geographic location, and may exceed this range. In addition to base salaries, our compensation package may include annual cash bonuses, commissions for sales roles, stock grants, and a comprehensive benefits package.

Equal Employment Opportunity

At Autodesk, we're building a diverse workplace and an inclusive culture to give more people the chance to imagine, design, and make a better world. Autodesk is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and considers all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status or any other legally protected characteristic. We also consider for employment all qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with applicable law.

Belonging

We take pride in cultivating a culture of belonging where everyone can thrive. Learn more here: https://www.autodesk.com/company/global-belonging

In-Person Onboarding and Identity Verification

This role may require in-person onboarding and/or in-person ID verification.