Principal Software Engineer

harnessinc; United States; Remote; USD 150,000 - 226,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare coverage

FSA and commuter benefits

Internet reimbursement

Flexible time off

Job summary

Harness Inc. is seeking a principal-level backend engineer to join a product team building engineering-intelligence software for developers. The role focuses on a scalable Java backend, data-rich platforms, and secure cloud integrations.

You will design and maintain production-grade services, own subsystems, and collaborate with SRE/DevOps to ensure reliability and performance in cloud environments. Remote-friendly within the US.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience building highly scalable, distributed applications and backend services in Java.
• Hands-on experience with relational databases such as MySQL or PostgreSQL.
• Deep understanding of how resilient distributed software is built, deployed, and operated.
• Strong problem-solving and debugging skills in production environments.
• Track record of working in short release cycles and agile, iterative development.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, deploy, and maintain critical production software in a Java-based environment with a strong quality bar.
• Author functional specifications and design documents for new features and major changes.
• Take ownership of key subsystems, including delivered quality, and ramp up on complex existing code.
• Build scalable backend services that process large event volumes and support iterative development with short customer feedback loops.
• Diagnose and resolve complex problems across distributed, cloud-hosted systems.
• Collaborate with reliability engineering, DevOps, and cross-functional partners to ship code and troubleshoot production issues, including peer reviews of specs, design, and code.

Skills

Distributed systems

Java backend

Agile development

Product mindset

Production debugging

Tools

MySQL

PostgreSQL

Docker

CI/CD

AWS

Job description

Role overview

This is a principal-level engineering position on a product team that builds engineering-intelligence software for software developers. The work centers on a platform that integrates with dozens of developer tools, ingests large volumes of software-delivery telemetry, and converts that raw data into metrics and insights that engineering teams and their leaders can act on. Expect deep technical challenges in data modeling, distributed systems design, developer experience, and secure cloud integrations.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, deploy, and maintain critical production software in a Java-based environment with a strong quality bar
• Author functional specifications and design documents for new features and major changes
• Take ownership of key subsystems, including delivered quality, and quickly ramp up on complex existing code
• Build scalable backend services that process large event volumes and support iterative development with short customer feedback loops
• Diagnose and resolve complex problems across distributed, cloud-hosted systems
• Collaborate with reliability engineering, DevOps, and cross-functional partners to ship code and troubleshoot production issues, including peer reviews of specs, design, and code

Requirements

• 12+ years of experience building highly scalable, distributed applications, products, and backend services in Java
• Hands-on experience with relational databases such as MySQL or PostgreSQL
• Deep understanding of how resilient distributed software is built, deployed, and operated
• Strong problem-solving and debugging skills in production environments
• Track record of working in short release cycles and agile, iterative development
• A product mindset focused on solving complex technical problems for end users

Nice to have

• SQL query tuning and performance optimization experience
• Familiarity with search frameworks such as Elasticsearch or SOLR
• Experience running applications on AWS, Azure, or GCP
• Working knowledge of Docker and CI/CD processes

Benefits and work setup

• Location: Bay Area or remote within the U.S., with periodic travel expected
• Competitive base salary with a hiring range of $150,000-$226,000 and a pay-transparency range of $204,000-$255,000 USD; some roles may include performance-based incentives and/or equity
• Comprehensive healthcare coverage, FSA, Employee Assistance Program, commuter benefits, and internet reimbursement
• Flexible time off, parental leave, plus quarterly extra days off and recurring team-building events