Principal Software Engineer

Harnham; San Francisco (CA); Remote; USD 230,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

An innovative tech company is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to lead the development of a cutting-edge data platform. This role offers the opportunity to tackle large-scale data challenges and build infrastructure that supports real-time analytics and AI/ML. As a founding member of the Data Platform team, you will design and architect systems that handle both batch and real-time data, ensuring scalability and resilience. Join a dynamic environment where your expertise will shape the future of data-driven solutions and contribute to the company's growth trajectory.

Benefits

Medical Insurance

Pension Plan

Paid Paternity Leave

401(k)

Paid Maternity Leave

Vision Insurance

Qualifications

• 8+ years in data infrastructure or platform engineering.
• Experience with cloud-based systems and data governance.

Responsibilities

• Build a next-generation data platform for internal and product needs.
• Lead data modeling, ingestion, and governance efforts.

Skills

Data Infrastructure Engineering

Real-time Streaming Architectures

Kafka

Cloud Systems (AWS, GCP, Azure)

Data Modeling

Data Governance

Communication Skills

Mentoring

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or Related Field

Master's Degree (Bonus)

Tools

ClickHouse

Apache Iceberg

Snowflake

Job description

This range is provided by Harnham. Your actual pay will be based on your skills and experience — talk with your recruiter to learn more.

Base pay range

$230,000.00/yr - $280,000.00/yr

Direct message the job poster from Harnham

Principal Software Engineer – Data Platform

San Francisco, CA (Remote OK – US Only)

Ready to architect a world-class data platform from the ground up?

A fast-growing, product-driven tech company is hiring a Principal Software Engineer to take charge of building a modern, cloud-native data platform from scratch. If you're passionate about solving large-scale data challenges and building infrastructure that supports real-time analytics and AI/ML, this could be your next big move.

What’s in it for you?

• Be a founding member of a growing Data Platform team
• Lead the design and architecture of the entire platform
• Work on massive-scale data and real-time streaming pipelines
• Help shape the platform that fuels AI, ML, and analytics company-wide

What You’ll Be Doing:

• Build a next-generation data platform for both internal and product-facing needs
• Design systems that handle both batch and real-time data with scalability, resilience, and speed
• Lead efforts around data modeling, ingestion, warehousing, and governance
• Set engineering best practices and mentor senior team members
• Ensure technical decisions support the company’s long-term goals
• Optimize infrastructure for cost-efficiency, performance, and reliability in a cloud-first environment

Who You Are:

• 8+ years of experience in data infrastructure or platform engineering
• 5+ years operating at a Principal Engineer (or equivalent) level
• Deep expertise with Kafka and real-time streaming architectures
• Hands-on experience with tools like ClickHouse, Apache Iceberg, and Snowflake
• Strong background in cloud-based systems (AWS, GCP, or Azure)
• Experience building secure, compliant, and governed data platforms
• Proven success scaling systems to handle petabytes of data
• Strong communicator and collaborative leader
• Bonus: Experience with AI/ML infrastructure or preparing for hypergrowth/IPO readiness

Seniority level

• Seniority level

  Mid-Senior level

Employment type

• Employment type

  Full-time

Job function

• Industries

  Software Development

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Inferred from the description for this job

Medical insurance

Pension plan

Paid paternity leave

401(k)

Paid maternity leave

Vision insurance

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