Principal Software Engineer

Chris Baily; New York (NY); On-site; USD 220,000 - 300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare benefits

401k matching

4 weeks of paid time off

Daily team lunches

Bi-annual offsites

Job summary

Chris Baily is seeking a Principal Software Engineer in New York City to lead technical strategy and tackle complex engineering challenges. This role involves integrating AI models into production and managing the architecture of the core platform.

Ideal candidates have over 7 years of software development experience, strong problem-solving skills, and proficiency in languages like Python and TypeScript. The position offers a competitive salary and comprehensive benefits including healthcare and substantial paid time off.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in software development at a Staff or Principal level.
• Hands-on experience with LLM-based applications in a production environment.
• Exceptional communication skills to debate architecture with engineers.

Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end system architecture of the core platform.
• Integrate AI and machine learning models into production.
• Define long-term technical roadmap with Product leadership.

Skills

Software development

AI/Machine Learning systems

Python

TypeScript

Problem-solving

Cloud platforms

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science

Tools

AWS

Azure

Containerized microservices architecture

Job description

We’re building applied AI systems for high‑stakes, real‑world decisions. Our platform ingests and reasons over large, messy data to surface evidence with hard constraints around fairness, auditability, and low bias.

The single gnarliest, most impact‑heavy place this problem shows up is in insurance claims, so that’s where we’re deployed today, running in production at some of the largest carriers in North America.

We are seeking a visionary Principal Software Engineer to join our Engineering team. In this role, you will drive our technical strategy, tackle our most complex engineering challenges, and lead the integration of advanced AI models into highly scalable, production‑grade features.

We have engineering hubs in New York City and Toronto, and this role is 5 days per week onsite in one of those offices. We optimize for people who like to think deeply, whiteboard with other sharp engineers, and ship ambitious systems together in person.

Join us at Owl.co and become an integral part of a forward‑thinking team dedicated to transforming the insurance industry through technology. Your technical leadership will play a crucial role in shaping our product roadmap and delivering massive value to our clients.

Key Responsibilities:

• Own the end‑to‑end system architecture of our core platform, ensuring it is highly scalable, secure, and capable of processing large‑scale unstructured data.
• Spearhead the engineering effort to seamlessly integrate, scale, and maintain applied AI and machine learning models in a high‑stakes production environment.
• Partner with Product leadership and cross‑functional teams to define the long‑term technical roadmap and translate business goals into actionable engineering initiatives.
• Act as a technical mentor and force multiplier for engineers across the organization, setting the gold standard for code quality, system design, and engineering best practices.
• Take hands‑on ownership of the most difficult technical challenges related to system latency, model inference constraints, and complex data pipelines.
• Continuously evaluate and introduce new technologies, frameworks, and engineering practices to improve the speed and reliability of our technical stack.

Ideal Profile:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science or a related technical field.
• 7+ years of experience in software development, with a proven track record operating at a Staff or Principal level within a product‑driven organization.
• Deep, hands‑on experience designing, deploying, and scaling AI/Machine Learning systems or LLM‑based applications in a production environment.
• Experience with Supervised Fine‑Tuning (SFT) and Reinforcement Learning (RL) techniques for LLMs and VMs.
• Expert‑level proficiency in programming languages such as Python, TypeScript or similar.
• Exceptional problem‑solving skills and the ability to navigate extreme technical ambiguity.
• High‑level communication skills and the ability to debate architecture with engineers while explaining technical trade‑offs to executive leadership.
• Extensive experience with cloud platforms such as AWS or Azure.
• Deep knowledge of containerized microservices architecture and modern backend APIs.
• Experience building software for highly regulated industries where auditability and bias mitigation are critical.
• Experience AI coding agents such as Claude Code, Codex, Cursor to accelerate development workflows.

Benefits:

• Industry Leaders: Our technical leadership comes from Meta, Microsoft, X, and Goldman Sachs, bringing world‑class expertise to our agile team.
• Market Leadership: We hold the largest market share in our space, offering a proven ROI and maintaining a 100% customer retention rate, with renewals consistently doubling their previous terms.
• Lean & Impact Driven Team: Our small, nimble team makes swift decisions and encourages direct communication and innovation through a flat organizational structure. You’ll make real, meaningful contributions right from the start.
• Established Product‑Market Fit: AI‑Driven Product that helps shape an AI‑powered enterprise solution for insurance companies across the US and Canada.
• Healthcare benefits: we cover 100% of the premiums for you and 70% for your family members (medical, dental & vision).
• 401k matching to help you save for your future.
• Recharge: 4 weeks of paid time off & 5 additional personal/sick days.
• Daily team lunches.
• Bi‑annual offsites: we'll make sure everyone at Owl has an opportunity to hang out with teammates IRL at least twice a year.
• Salary Range: $220,000 - $300,000 USD. Our salary ranges are benchmarked and are determined by role and level. The range displayed on each job posting reflects a range target for new hire salaries for the position and could be higher or lower based on a multitude of factors, including job‑related skills, experience, location, and relevant education or training.