Principal Software Engineer

Cotality; Austin (TX); Hybrid; USD 134,000 - 199,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous PTO and holidays

Parental leave up to 16 weeks

Health coverage options

401(k) with company match

Well-being stipend

Tuition assistance

Recognition rewards

Job summary

Cotality is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to lead Location Services architecture and cross-team technical strategy. The role focuses on scalable, accurate, and secure geospatial systems across the company, partnering with engineering leaders and product teams.

Hybrid work arrangement (1 day in office, 4 work-from-home); roles based in Dallas, Austin, Irvine, or San Diego. Strong backend, cloud, and geospatial expertise required for guiding architecture and delivery.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of professional software engineering experience with senior leadership.
• Experience designing and operating large-scale distributed systems.
• Proficiency in one or more backend languages (Java, C++, Python).
• Experience building and operating cloud-native services (GCP, AWS, Azure).
• Strong understanding of relational, NoSQL, time-series, or geospatial databases.
• Able to influence technical direction across teams without direct authority.

Responsibilities

• Own and evolve architecture of core Location Services and geospatial capabilities.
• Lead system design for scalable, low-latency, highly available services.
• Define standards for geospatial data modeling, querying, and processing.
• Evaluate new technologies and patterns for material benefit.
• Partner with product, data, and infra teams to align technical direction with business goals.

Skills

Backend programming

Distributed systems

Cloud services

Geospatial data

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Cloud tooling

Job description

At Cotality, we are driven by a single mission—to make the property industry faster, smarter, and more people-centric. Cotality is the trusted source for property intelligence, with unmatched precision, depth, breadth, and insights across the entire ecosystem. Our talented team of 5,000 employees globally uses our network, scale, connectivity and technology to drive the largest asset class in the world. Join us as we work toward our vision of fueling a thriving global property ecosystem and a more resilient society.

Cotality is committed to cultivating a diverse and inclusive work culture that inspires innovation and bold thinking; it's a place where you can collaborate, feel valued, develop skills and directly impact the real estate economy. We know our people are our greatest asset. At Cotality, you can be yourself, lift people up and make an impact. By putting clients first and continuously innovating, we're working together to set the pace for unlocking new possibilities that better serve the property industry.

Job Description:

Role Overview

We are seeking a Principal Software Engineer to provide technical leadership for our Location Services team. This role is responsible for shaping architecture, driving cross‑team technical strategy, and ensuring the scalability, correctness, and operational excellence of location‑based systems across the company.

The Principal Engineer operates with broad scope and influence, partnering closely with engineering leaders, product teams, and stakeholders to align technical outcomes with business priorities.

This role is a hybrid position (1 day a week in the office and 4 work from home) to be based from any of Cotalitys US offices: Dallas, Austin, Irvine, San Diego.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Leadership & Architecture

• Own and evolve the architecture of core Location Services and geospatial capabilities
• Lead system design for highly scalable, low‑latency, and highly available location‑based services
• Define standards and best practices for geospatial data modeling, querying, and processing
• Evaluate and introduce new technologies, patterns, and frameworks where they provide material benefit

Platform Ownership & Delivery

• Serve as technical owner for critical geospatial components and services
• Guide teams through complex technical initiatives spanning multiple services or domains
• Ensure solutions meet requirements for performance, accuracy, reliability, and security
• Actively influence roadmap direction through technical insight and risk assessment
• Partner with product, data, and infrastructure teams to align technical direction with business goals
• Provide technical insights to multiple engineering teams consuming Location Services
• Resolve cross‑cutting technical issues and reduce architectural fragmentation

Operational Excellence

• Drive improvements in observability, resilience, and fault tolerance for geospatial systems
• Lead root‑cause analysis for significant production issues and ensure long‑term corrective action
• Champion automation, testing strategies, and reliability engineering practices
• Mentor senior and mid‑level engineers, strengthening overall technical capability
• Set a high bar for engineering rigor, system design quality, and documentation
• Act as a role model for pragmatic decision‑making and long‑term systems thinking

Job Qualifications:

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years of professional software engineering experience, with demonstrated senior technical leadership
• Deep experience designing and operating large‑scale distributed systems
• Proficiency in one or more backend programming languages (e.g., Java, C++, Python)
• Experience building and operating cloud‑native services (e.g., GCP, AWS, or Azure)
• Strong understanding of data storage technologies (relational, NoSQL, time‑series, or geospatial databases)
• Proven ability to influence technical direction across teams without direct authority
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical trade‑offs to diverse audiences

Preferred Qualifications

• Spatial data models and indexing
• Geospatial queries, transformations, and projections
• Location accuracy, precision, and data quality considerations
• Prior ownership of location‑based or geospatial platforms in production environments
• Experience with real‑time or near‑real‑time location processing pipelines
• Familiarity with geospatial tooling and standards
• Experience with containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes)
• Background in reliability engineering, performance tuning, and scalability testing
• Experience guiding architectural decisions in a platform or shared‑services organization

#LI-Hybrid

#LI-BH1

Annual Pay Range:

134,400 - 199,000 USD

Thrive with Cotality

At Cotality, we offer more than just a job, we provide a benefits experience designed to support your whole self. From a flexible working model to competitive time off and standout health coverage with meaningful perks and growth opportunities, our package is built to help you thrive at work and in life.

Highlights, depending on role classification, include:

• Time off: Generous PTO and 11 paid holidays, plus well-being and volunteer time off.
• Family Support: Up to 16 weeks of fully paid parental leave and a baby stipend.
• Health: Multiple medical plan options with mental health and wellness support offerings.
• Retirement: 401(k) with company match and vesting after one year.
• Financial Perks: $400 annual well-being stipend and tuition assistance up to $5,250.
• Extras: Recognition Rewards, Referral bonuses, exclusive discounts and more!

Cotality is an Equal Opportunity employer committed to attracting and retaining the best-qualified people available, without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability or status as a veteran of the Armed Forces, or any other basis protected by federal, state or local law. Cotality maintains a Drug-Free Workplace.

Cotality is fully committed to a work environment that embraces everyone’s unique contributions, experiences and values. We offer an empowered work environment that encourages creativity, initiative and professional growth and provides a competitive salary and benefits package. We are better together when we support and recognize our differences.