Principal Software Engineer: AI-Driven Platform Architect

Workiva Inc.; United States; Remote; USD 177,000 - 284,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Discretionary bonus

RSUs

401(k) match

Benefits package

Job summary

Workiva seeks a Principal Software Engineer to drive architecture across platform modernization, AI-enabled development, and new product bets. This hands-on role requires defining strategy, delivering complex systems, and raising the technical bar for teams across the organization.

You will lead multi-team initiatives, shape scalable boundaries, and partner with engineering and product leadership to align technical decisions with business outcomes, while building durable runbooks and tests for

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience building and scaling complex software systems.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Security, or related field; or 6+ years and a Master's; or a PhD with 4+ years of experience; or equivalent practical experience.
• Demonstrated experience using AI as a primary development collaborator, with a strong quality bar for AI-generated output.

Responsibilities

• Deliver outcomes by partnering with engineering teams on complex work across platform modernization, product evolution, and new product bets.
• Adapt technical approach and delivery strategy to match project needs.
• Use AI-native development methods to build automation, validation, and engineering harnesses to improve speed and quality.
• Define and drive technical strategy across large multi-team initiatives with scalable interfaces.
• Design AI-driven systems and context-aware infrastructure connecting code, docs, and AI tooling.
• Mentor and raise the technical bar for Staff+ engineers; align technical decisions with business outcomes.

Skills

Distributed systems

Platform architecture

AI-driven development

Technical leadership

Cross-functional leadership

API design

TDD/BDD

Performance optimization

Mentoring Staff+

Strategic planning

Education

Bachelor's in Computer Science

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Terraform

Git

Job description

Workiva seeks a Principal Software Engineer to drive architecture across platform modernization, AI-enabled development, and new product bets. This hands-on role requires defining strategy, delivering complex systems, and raising the technical bar for teams across the organization.

You will lead multi-team initiatives, shape scalable boundaries, and partner with engineering and product leadership to align technical decisions with business outcomes, while building durable runbooks and tests for