Principal Software Engineer

Matroid Inc.; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 250,000 - 360,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive pay

Equity

Gym membership reimbursement

Free lunch, drinks and snacks

Medical, dental, vision insurance (100

Job summary

Matroid Inc. is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to shape the architecture and technical direction of our computer vision platform in Palo Alto.

You will lead complex initiatives from definition to production, solving problems across CV, DL and infrastructure, and mentoring engineers to boost overall effectiveness. This is a hands-on role with broad technical and organizational influence, requiring deep expertise in at least one core area and a track record of delivering substantial systems

Qualifications

• Deep expertise in computer vision and deep learning or production systems and infrastructure.
• Passion for learning new things; comfortable across different parts of the stack and wearing different hats.
• Demonstrated success building substantial technical systems with multiple engineers.
• Track record of sound architectural decisions and evolving complex systems pragmatically.
• Significant recent experience designing systems, writing production code, and debugging difficult cross-system failures.
• Strong communication skills, especially when framing technical decisions and tradeoffs.
• Experience leading engineers across ML and infrastructure.
• Experience with GPU systems, distributed systems, Kubernetes, AWS, MLOps, or production computer vision.
• Hired or managed engineers while remaining deeply technical.
• Significant open-source contributions, publications, or public work showing impact in the field.

Responsibilities

• Lead major initiatives spanning software, infrastructure, deep learning, and computer vision from ideation through deployment and iteration.
• Stay current with capabilities in CV/DL and incorporate them into the platform to solve real-world problems.
• Translate ambiguous goals into pragmatic designs, milestones, and clear ownership.
• Make architectural decisions balancing velocity, reliability, maintainability, performance, and cost.
• Raise team effectiveness through technical direction, delegation, review, and mentorship.
• Personally prototype, code, and debug high-leverage problems without becoming a bottleneck.
• Identify and remove recurring barriers to engineering execution.

Skills

Computer vision

Deep learning

Distributed systems

Technical leadership

Infrastructure

Tools

Kubernetes

AWS

MLOps

GPU computing

Job description

We’re looking for a Principal Software Engineer to help build the next generation of Matroid’s computer vision platform, shaping its architecture and technical direction.

You’ll lead complex initiatives from definition through production, solve problems spanning computer vision, deep learning and infrastructure, and make the engineers around you more effective. You bring deep expertise in at least one of these areas and can demonstrate clear success and impact in your prior experience.

This is a hands‑on role with broad technical and organizational influence.

What you’ll do

• Lead major initiatives spanning software, infrastructure, deep learning, and computer vision - from ideation and research through development, deployment, and iteration
• Keep up with latest capabilities in a fast-moving field and how best to incorporate them in our user-facing platform to solve real-world problems
• Turn ambiguous goals into pragmatic designs, milestones, and clear ownership
• Make consequential architectural decisions balancing velocity, reliability, maintainability, performance, and cost
• Raise the effectiveness of other engineers through technical direction, delegation, review, and mentorship
• Personally prototype, code, and debug high-leverage problems without becoming the team’s bottleneck
• Identify and remove recurring barriers to engineering execution

How you’ll be doing it

• Owning real-world production outcomes with high autonomy
• Leading through technical judgment, clear communication, and example
• Diagnosing problems across models, software, infrastructure, hardware, and data
• Knowing when to build a platform versus a focused solution; balancing short- and long-term velocity and risk

What you bring to the table

• Deep expertise in either computer vision and deep learning or production systems and infrastructure
• Passion for learning new things; happy working across different parts of the stack and wearing different hats
• Demonstrated success building substantial technical systems alongside multiple engineers
• A track record of making sound architectural decisions and evolving complex systems pragmatically
• Significant recent experience designing systems, writing production code, and debugging difficult cross-system failures
• Strong communication skills, particularly when framing technical decisions and tradeoffs
• You have led engineers across both machine learning and infrastructure
• You have experience with GPU systems, distributed systems, Kubernetes, AWS, MLOps, or production computer vision
• You have hired or managed engineers while remaining deeply technical
• You have significant open-source contributions, publications, or other public work demonstrating your impact in the field

What we offer in return

• Competitive pay and equity.
• The chance to constantly work on stimulating intellectual challenges.
• Gym membership reimbursement.
• Free lunch, healthy drinks, and snacks every day.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance with 100% paid premiums.
• A flexible schedule that leaves time for all of your other interests.
• A budget for whatever hardware or software will make you most effective.
• Regular tech talks to discuss the latest advances in CV, DL and engineering

Matroid is committed to creating a diverse work environment and is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, non-disqualifying physical or mental disability, national origin, veteran status, or any other basis covered by appropriate law.