Principal Software Engineer, Asana Platform

Decisive Point; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 366,000 - 380,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Mental health benefits

Career coaching

Family-building benefits

Retirement plans

In-office dining

Job summary

Asana's Platform organization builds the services and shared experiences that every Asana product runs on, from the Work Graph to APIs and analytics. We seek a Principal Software Engineer to own the architecture and drive initiatives across teams that are too large for any one group.

This role is based in our New York office with an office-centric hybrid schedule. In-office days are Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday; most Asanas can work from home on Wednesdays, with Fridays depending on work.

Qualifications

• 12+ years building production software.
• Experience leading large org tech direction and architecture across multiple teams.
• Experience with distributed systems and large shared data models for enterprise use.
• Understanding of AI tools, agents governance, and enterprise requirements.
• Led at least one major replatforming or migration without downtime.
• Strong communication across technical and business audiences, including executives.
• Experience with multi-tenant enterprise SaaS and security for AI.
• Committed to inclusive culture and collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Set technical direction across Asana's platform, from the Work Graph to APIs and data models.
• Partner across R&D, Security, and Legal to drive high-stakes, long-term initiatives that deliver leverage.
• Set the bar for platform design, including interfaces, separation of concerns, reliability, and guarantees.
• Make high-stakes build vs buy decisions and guide replatforming without stopping product delivery.
• Incorporate industry insights on AI tools and agents into R&D strategy with senior leadership.
• Serve as decision maker on cross-pillar questions and align stakeholders.
• Grow technical leaders through mentoring staff and defining scopes they own.
• Represent Asana's platform externally through talks and writings.

Skills

Distributed systems

Platform leadership

Architectural design

AI governance for enterprise

Multi-tenant SaaS

Cross-functional collaboration

Strategic decision-making

Mentoring senior staff

Executive communication

Job description

The Platform organization at Asana builds the services and shared experiences that every Asana product runs on. That starts with the Work Graph, where our customers' work lives, and the APIs that let people and AI agents act on it. It extends to the events and reporting systems built on the graph, to the extensibility layer that connects Asana to the tools and agents our customers use, and to new shared experiences that are used by all Asana’s customers.

We are looking for a Principal Software Engineer to be the senior technical leader of this organization. You will own the architecture that Asana's products and customers build on, and drive the initiatives too large or too risky for any one team to carry. You will work with Asana's most senior leaders to connect engineering plans to business outcomes, and shape where the platform takes the company next.

This role is based in our New York office with an office-centric hybrid schedule. The standard in-office days are Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Most Asanas have the option to work from home on Wednesdays. Working from home on Fridays depends on the type of work you do and the teams with which you partner. If you're interviewing for this role, your recruiter will share more about the in-office requirements.

What You'll Achieve

• Set technical direction across Asana's platform, from the Work Graph and its data model to the ecosystem of APIs and shared experiences that products, integrations, and agents build on
• Partner across the R&D organization, Security, and Legal to drive a portfolio of high-stakes, long-term initiatives that create leverage in how we build
• Set the bar for good platform design, including interface design, separation of concerns, and reliability and functional guarantees
• Make the high-stakes calls on build versus buy, on vendors, and on how to replatform without stopping product delivery, and make sure those decisions age well
• Bring a grounded view of the industry, and of how AI agents change what a work platform has to offer, into R&D strategy with Asana's senior leadership
• Serve as the decision maker and backstop when a technical question cuts across pillars, and turn cross-org disagreement into a call people commit to
• Grow the technical leaders around you, from mentoring staff and senior staff engineers to creating scopes they can own outright
• Represent Asana's platform engineering externally through talks and writing, and bring senior engineers in the door

About You

• 12+ years building production software, including years spent setting technical direction across a large organization or several
• You have built platforms that other teams ship on, at a scale where mistakes are expensive, and your architectural decisions have proved right over years rather than quarters
• Deep experience with distributed systems and with large, shared data models, including the performance and reliability work of running them for enterprise customers
• A clear view of where AI is taking platforms like ours, including agents as first-class actors and the governance enterprises demand when agents touch their work
• You have led at least one major replatforming or migration in a system that could not stop serving customers while it changed
• You communicate at every level of a company, from a design review with engineers to a strategy discussion with executives, and translate between technical and business language in both directions
• You have grown staff and senior staff engineers into larger scopes, and senior people seek you out to work with you
• Experience with multi-tenant enterprise SaaS, and with security and data governance for AI systems, is a plus
• Deep care for collaboration and an ability to foster an inclusive culture where everyone can bring their full selves to work and thrive
• Demonstrates curiosity about AI tools and emerging technologies, with a willingness to learn and leverage them to enhance productivity, collaboration, or decision-making

At Asana, we're committed to building teams that include a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills, as this is critical to helping us achieve our mission. If you're interested in this role and don't meet every listed requirement, we still encourage you to apply.

What We'll Offer

Our comprehensive compensation package plays a big part in how we recognize you for the impact you have on our path to achieving our mission. We believe that compensation should be reflective of the value you create relative to the market value of your role. To ensure pay is fair and not impacted by biases, we're committed to looking at market value which is why we check ourselves and conduct a yearly pay equity audit.

For this role, the estimated base salary range is between $365,500 - $380,000. The actual base salary will vary based on various factors, including market and individual qualifications objectively assessed during the interview process. The listed range above is a guideline, and the base salary range for this role may be modified.

In addition to base salary, your compensation package may include additional components such as equity, sales incentive pay (for most sales roles), and benefits. If you're interviewing for this role, speak with your recruiter to learn more about the total compensation and benefits for this role.

We strive to provide equitable and competitive benefits packages that support our employees worldwide and include:

• Mental health, wellness & fitness benefits
• Career coaching & support
• Inclusive family building benefits
• Long-term savings or retirement plans
• In-office culinary options to cater to your dietary preferences

These are just some of the benefits we offer, and benefits may vary based on role, country, and local regulations. If you're interviewing for this role, speak with your recruiter to learn more about the total compensation and benefits for this role.

About Us

Asana is a leading platform for human + AI collaboration. Millions of teams around the world rely on Asana to achieve their most important goals, faster. Asana has been named to Fortune's Best Workplaces for 7+ years and recognized by Fast Company, Forbes, and Gartner for excellence in workplace culture and innovation. We offer an exceptional office-centric culture while adopting the best elements of hybrid models to ensure that every one of our global team members can work together effortlessly. With 13+ offices all over the world, we are always looking for individuals who care about building technology that drives positive change in the world and a culture where everyone feels that they belong.

We believe in supporting people to do their best work and thrive. Our goal is to ensure that Asana upholds an environment where all people feel that they are respected and valued, whether they are applying for an open position or working at the company. We provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by law.

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