Principal Software Engineer

GitHub, Inc.; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 160,000 - 425,000; Full time

Job summary

GitHub is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to lead system architecture, mentor engineers, and drive advanced technical solutions. The role emphasizes scalable systems, cross-functional collaboration, and innovative problem-solving in a dynamic environment.

We value AI-forward approaches, secure development, and strong leadership in design reviews and development practices. Remote work within the United States is supported as part of a global engineering effort.

Qualifications

• 11+ years of software engineering experience with production software coding.
• Experience with languages such as C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Go, Ruby, Rust, or Python.
• Ability to lead architecture discussions and mentor engineers.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to solve complex technical problems at scale.
• Contribute to code and lead design discussions for system architecture while ensuring security and compliance.
• Set an example by adopting AI-forward approaches in engineering.
• Partner with product managers, leads, and engineers to define requirements for complex scenarios.
• Mentor teammates in testing, quality, and maintainable code practices.
• Provide technical leadership during code reviews and ensure reliability at scale.
• Debug across products and resolve issues with proactive tooling.
• Optimize deployments to meet business objectives and GitHub deployment standards.
• Drive improvements in developer tooling and automation.

Skills

C/C++

Software engineering experience

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related field

Master's Degree in Computer Science or related field

Doctorate in Computer Science or related field

Associate’s Degree in Computer Science or related field

Equivalent experience

Job description

About GitHub

GitHub is the world’s leading platform for agentic software development — powered by Copilot to build, scale, and deliver secure software. Over 180 million developers, including more than 90% of the Fortune 100 companies, use GitHub to collaborate, and more than 77,000 organisations have adopted GitHub Copilot.

Locations

In this role you can work from Remote, United States

Overview

At GitHub, our mission is to accelerate human progress through developer collaboration. We are working on shaping the next era of software where developers thrive in collaboration with agents.

We are growing our Engineering team and seeking experienced professionals to enhance our software engineering efforts. As a Principal Software Engineer, you will lead system architecture design and mentor others in quality assurance practices. The ideal candidate will be a key leader in advancing GitHub’s engineering initiatives, driving impactful technical solutions while gaining deep expertise in scalable systems, cross-functional collaboration, and innovative problem-solving in a dynamic environment.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to solve complex technical problems at scale, balancing high-level system design with active code contribution.
• Contribute to code, and lead and influence design discussions for the overall system architecture of complex products and solutions, ensuring they meet security and compliance requirements.
• Set an example for the team on evaluating and adopting latest advancements in the industry including being AI-forward.
• Partner with stakeholders including product managers, technical leads, and other engineers to solve hard technical problems at scale and define requirements for complex scenarios, incorporating feedback into future designs.
• Set an example for the team by evaluating and adopting latest industry advancements, driving an AI-forward approach to engineering and productivity.
• Establish and mentor others in best practices for testing and assuring the quality of solutions, defining success metrics, and producing maintainable code integrated with downstream dependencies.
• Provide technical leadership during code reviews to ensure solutions meet quality standards, are reliable, and are appropriate for the scale of the product feature.
• Act as an expert on debugging tools and methods, leading proactive and reactive code development to verify assumptions and resolve issues across products and teams.
• Optimize deployments across products to meet business objectives, ensuring solutions are deployed safely and adhere to GitHub's deployment standards.
• Lead efforts to improve development quality and team performance by driving the execution of strategies for developer tooling and automation, sharing best practices, and mentoring others in new tools and strategies.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

• 11+ years' experience in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or related technical discipline with proven experience maintaining and delivering production software coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Go, Ruby, Rust, or Python,

• • OR Associate’s Degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Math, Physics, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field AND 10+ years' experience in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or related technical discipline with proven experience maintaining and delivering production software coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Go, Ruby, Rust, or Python,
  • OR Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related field AND 9+ years' experience in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or related technical discipline with proven experience maintaining and delivering production software coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Go, Ruby, Rust, or Python,
  • OR Master's Degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Math, Physics, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field AND 7+ years' experience in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or related technical discipline with proven experience maintaining and delivering production software coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Go, Ruby, Rust, or Python,
  • OR Doctorate in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Math, Physics, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field AND 5+ years' experience in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or related technical discipline with proven experience maintaining and delivering production software coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Go, Ruby, Rust, or Python,
  • OR equivalent experience.

Compensation Range

The base salary range for this job is USD $160,200.00 - USD $425,000.00 /Yr.

These pay ranges are intended to cover roles based across the United States. An individual's base pay depends on various factors including geographical location and review of experience, knowledge, skills, abilities of the applicant. At GitHub certain roles are eligible for benefits and additional rewards, including annual bonus and stock. These rewards are allocated based on individual impact in role. In addition, certain roles also have the opportunity to earn sales incentives based on revenue or utilization, depending on the terms of the plan and the employee's role.

This position will be open for a minimum of 3 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.

GitHub values

• Customer-obsessed
• Ship to learn
• Growth mindset
• Own the outcome
• Better together
• Diverse and inclusive

Manager fundamentals

• Model
• Coach
• Care

Leadership principles

• Create clarity
• Generate energy
• Deliver success

Who We Are

GitHub is the world’s leading AI-powered developer platform with 150 million developers and counting. We’re also home to the biggest open-source community on earth (and 99% of the world’s software has open-source code in its DNA). Many of the apps and programs you use every day are built on GitHub.

Our teams are dreamers, doers, and pioneers, leading the way in AI, driving humanitarian efforts around the globe, and even sending open source to Mars (and beyond!).At GitHub, our goal is to create the space you need to do your best work. We’re remote-first and offer competitive pay, generous learning and growth opportunities, and excellent benefits to support you, wherever you are—because we know that people flourish when they can work on their own terms.

Join us, and let’s change the world, together.

EEO Statement

GitHub is made up of people from a wide variety of backgrounds and lifestyles. We embrace diversity and invite applications from people of all walks of life. We don't discriminate against employees or applicants based on gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, race, religion, age, national origin, citizenship, disability, pregnancy status, veteran status, or any other differences. Also, if you have a disability, please let us know if there's any way we can make the interview process better for you; we're happy to accommodate!