Principal Software Engineer

Thomson Reuters; Frisco (TX); Hybrid; USD 158,900 - 340,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid Work Model

Mental Health Days

Tuition reimbursement

Job summary

Thomson Reuters is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to design and build scalable backend services and APIs for our document analysis platform. You will write high‑performance server‑side code, craft efficient API contracts, and own data pipelines.

The role involves integrations with ML systems, frontend collaboration, and enhancing CI/CD for smoother production workflows. The ideal candidate has 10–12 years of full‑stack experience, strong backend chops (Node.js/Python/Go), proficiency in

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, IT, or related field.
• 10–12 years of professional full‑stack development with backend focus.
• Proficiency in Node.js, Python, or Go and API design.
• Strong RESTful APIs, database design, and data modelling knowledge.
• Experience with SQL and NoSQL databases.
• Familiarity with Docker, Kubernetes and hyperscalers (AWS, GCP).
• Proficiency in TypeScript and React for frontend work.
• Foundation in distributed systems and event‑driven architectures.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills; self‑starting.

Responsibilities

• Design and build scalable backend services and APIs for our document analysis platform.
• Write maintainable, high‑performance server‑side code and data processing pipelines.
• Define clear API contracts and contribute to service architecture decisions.
• Craft compositional API primitives to productionise insights.
• Build and maintain integrations with third‑party services and ML systems.
• Contribute to frontend features and components as needed to deliver end‑to‑end work.
• Work on performance optimisation for data‑intensive backend operations.
• Improve CI/CD and production operations to enhance developer experience.

Skills

Backend development

API design

RESTful APIs

Database design

SQL

NoSQL

Node.js

Python

Go

TypeScript

React

Distributed systems

Communication

Self-starter

AWS

GCP

Docker

Kubernetes

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science/IT or related field

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

AWS

GCP

Job description

Principal Software Engineer

The global capital markets are among the largest markets in the world valued at $50T+ and growing. Transactions in these markets are complex. Critical, nuanced legal terms are woven into lengthy documents. These documents must be digested and analyzed by many different parties over the course of a single transaction and multiple decisions are made based on the terms laid out and quantitative and qualitative attributes within. This fundamental need plus a booming market drives enormous demand for precise extraction and benchmarking of legal terms.

About the Role

• Design and build scalable backend services and APIs that power our document analysis platform
• Write maintainable, high-performance server‑side code and data processing pipelines
• Define clear, efficient API contracts and contribute to service architecture decisions
• Design and craft compositional API primitives to expedite the productionisation of our ever growing list of document insights
• Build and maintain integrations with third‑party services and internal ML systems
• Contribute to frontend features and components as needed to deliver features end to end
• Work on performance optimisation for data‑intensive backend operations
• Take ownership in engineering excellence and collaborate on code practices and design patterns to ensure long‑term maintainability and scalability
• Take ownership in developer experience by improving/automating CI/CD and other day‑to‑day production operations

About You

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field (or equivalent experience)
• 10-12 years of professional full‑stack development experience with a strong focus on backend systems
• Proficiency in backend technologies (Node.js, Python, or Go) and API design
• Strong understanding of RESTful APIs, database design, and data modelling
• Experience with SQL and NoSQL databases
• Familiarity with containerisation and orchestration platforms (Docker, Kubernetes) and hyperscalers (AWS, GCP, etc.)
• Proficiency in TypeScript and React for frontend work
• Foundation in distributed systems, event‑driven architectures, and web fundamentals
• Strong communication and collaboration skills
• Self‑starting problem‑solving approach biased towards action and scope minimisation

Additional Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with microservices architecture and message queues
• Understanding of CI/CD fundamentals and experience working in single‑tenant architectures
• Experience building data processing pipelines or working with large‑scale data systems
• Familiarity with object‑oriented design and functional programming principles
• Experience optimisation of backend performance for data‑intensive applications
• Interest in language and economics
• Thrives in a high‑leverage, fast‑paced environment
• Familiar with technologies like monorepo, jujutsu, mise, pprof, etc.

What’s in it for You?

• Hybrid Work Model: We have a flexible hybrid working environment (2–3 days a week in the office depending on the role) for our office‑based roles while delivering a seamless experience that is digitally and physically connected.

• Flexibility & Work‑Life Balance: Flex My Way is a set of supportive workplace policies designed to help manage personal and professional responsibilities, whether caring for family, giving back to the community, or finding time to refresh and reset. This builds upon our flexible work arrangements, including work from anywhere for up to 8 weeks per year, empowering employees to achieve a better work‑life balance.

• Career Development and Growth: By fostering a culture of continuous learning and skill development, we prepare our talent to tackle tomorrow’s challenges and deliver real‑world solutions. Our Grow My Way programming and skills‑first approach ensures you have the tools and knowledge to grow, lead, and thrive in an AI‑enabled future.

• Industry Competitive Benefits: We offer comprehensive benefit plans to include flexible vacation, two company‑wide Mental Health Days off, access to the Headspace app, retirement savings, tuition reimbursement, employee incentive programmes, and resources for mental, physical, and financial wellbeing.

• Culture: Globally recognised, award‑winning reputation for inclusion and belonging, flexibility, work‑life balance, and more. We live by our values: Obsess over our Customers, Compete to Win, Challenge Your Thinking, Act Fast / Learn Fast, and Stronger Together.

• Social Impact: Make an impact in your community with our Social Impact Institute. We offer employees two paid volunteer days off annually and opportunities to get involved with pro‑bono consulting projects and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives.

• Making a Real‑World Impact: We are one of the few companies globally that helps its customers pursue justice, truth, and transparency. Together, with the professionals and institutions we serve, we help uphold the rule of law, catch bad actors, report the facts, and provide trusted, unbiased information to people all over the world.

Thomson Reuters provides a comprehensive benefits package including health, dental, vision, disability, life insurance, and a competitive 401(k) plan with company match. Additional benefits include maternity/paternity leave, sabbatical leave, optional hospital, accident and sickness insurance, life and AD&D insurance paid 100% by the employee, Flexible Spending and Health Savings Accounts, fitness reimbursement, access to Employee Assistance Programme, Group Legal Identity Theft Protection benefit paid 100% by the employee, 529 Plan access, commuter benefits, adoption & surrogacy assistance, tuition reimbursement, and an Employee Stock Purchase Plan.

Base compensation ranges for this role vary by location. Eligible office locations include New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Irvine, CA, McLean, VA, Washington, DC. Base pay ranges from $183,100 USD – $340,000 USD. In other US locations, the range is $158,900 USD – $295,100 USD. Base pay is positioned within the range based on the candidate’s knowledge, skills, and experience, taking into account internal equity. This role may also be eligible for an annual bonus based on enterprise and individual performance.

As a global business, we rely on the unique backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences of all employees to deliver on our business goals. To ensure we can do that, we seek talented, qualified employees in all our operations around the world regardless of race, colour, sex/gender, pregnancy, gender identity and expression, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, citizen status, veteran status, or any other protected classification under applicable law. Thomson Reuters is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer providing a drug‑free workplace.

Thomson Reuters makes reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities, including veterans with disabilities, and for sincerely held religious beliefs in accordance with applicable law.