Principal Software Engineer

McKinsey & Company; Elgin (IL); On-site; USD 147,000 - 234,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Mentorship

Benefits

Growth opportunities

Job summary

McKinsey & Company is growing its technology group in Elgin, IL and seeks a Principal Software Engineer who treats reliability as a feature, not an afterthought. You’ll own C# projects and ship with a team that values collaboration.

You’ll design backend services, review PRs, contribute to sprint planning, and help shape the technology roadmap while balancing Azure tradeoffs with product needs.

Qualifications

• Must have a track record of ownership over software projects.
• Strong backend design and delivery-focused mindset.
• Experience negotiating cloud tradeoffs (Azure) with product teams.
• Demonstrated leadership and ability to ship complex features.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain reliable backend services.
• Review pull requests and uphold engineering standards.
• Contribute to sprint planning and technology roadmap discussions.
• Negotiate Azure tradeoffs with product teams.
• Lead technical design reviews for major initiatives.
• Prototype ideas quickly and evaluate for production use.
• Pair Active Listening with Azure components in pipelines.

Skills

Ownership of C# projects

Backend design

Azure experience

Leadership and shipping

Tools

C#

Redis

Tailwind CSS

Job description

We're growing the technology group at McKinsey & Company and need a Principal Software Engineer who treats reliability as a feature, not an afterthought. This maker-minded role offers $147,000 - $234,000, full ownership of C# projects, and the support of a team that ships together.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain reliable backend services using Tailwind CSS and Redis
• Ship Active Listening experiments fast, kill the losers, and double down on what sticks
• Contribute to sprint planning, estimation, and technology roadmap discussions
• Negotiate Microsoft Azure tradeoffs with product when McKinsey & Company timelines and reality collide
• Lead technical design reviews for principal technology initiatives
• Review pull requests and uphold engineering standards across the technology team
• Prototype rough Jenkins ideas fast, then decide which earn a place in McKinsey & Company's stack
• Pair Active Listening and Microsoft Azure in a pipeline McKinsey & Company can extend without your help later

What You'll Bring

• Principal mastery of Goal Setting, validated by people who'd hire you again
• Judgment seasoned by at least 8 years of real consequences
• Proven follow-through, measured in shipped things rather than good intentions
• The composure to deliver bad news early and clearly
• A keen eye for quality and consistency in your output
• Familiarity with the Elgin market and local technology landscape
• Prior experience working on-site in Elgin, IL, or willingness to relocate

McKinsey & Company is a builder-led Elgin, IL studio where Ruby gets treated with the seriousness most companies reserve for marketing. We hand new Principal Software Engineer hires real ownership early because trust given freely tends to be returned.

The headline reads $147,000 - $234,000; the fine print is all upside, mentorship, benefits, and freedom to grow your People Management.

As of this visit, McKinsey & Company is actively reviewing for the Principal Software Engineer role.

Your Microsoft Azure story isn't finished, and the next chapter might be a Principal Software Engineer role here.