Principal Software Engineer (Cloud)

sevenai; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

7AI is seeking a Principal Software Engineer in Boston to define the technical foundation of our AI-native cybersecurity platform. You will lead system design, drive 0→1 initiatives, and mentor engineers, shaping architecture and production readiness.

Collaborate with product, AI, security, and platform teams to translate complex problems into scalable solutions, guiding engineering culture and ensuring observability and reliability in production.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of professional software engineering experience building and operating production-grade distributed systems.
• Proven experience leading the design and delivery of large-scale, highly available cloud-native systems.
• Strong system design expertise, including distributed systems, APIs, event-driven architectures, data-intensive applications, and infrastructure scalability.
• Experience leading complex technical projects with significant ambiguity and cross-functional coordination.
• Strong proficiency in one or more backend languages such as Rust, Python, TypeScript, or Go.
• Track record building systems on AWS, GCP, or Azure.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Comfortable and curious working with AI-assisted development tools such as Claude Code, Codex, or Cursor.

Responsibilities

• Lead design of scalable backend systems for our AI-native cybersecurity platform.
• Drive complex technical initiatives from 0→1, including system design, technical strategy, implementation, and operationalization.
• Partner with product, AI, security, and platform teams to turn ambiguous business and customer problems into solid technical solutions.
• Lead design discussions and provide technical leadership across multiple engineering domains and initiatives.
• Identify and address technical risks, scalability bottlenecks, and operational challenges before they affect the business.
• Improve system observability, reliability, testing, deployment workflows, and operational excellence across engineering.
• Help shape engineering culture by promoting high standards for execution, craftsmanship, collaboration, and ownership.
• Mentor engineers through technical guidance, design reviews, and hands-on collaboration.
• Work effectively in a fast-changing environment where priorities and technical challenges shift quickly.

Skills

Distributed systems

System design

Backend development

Technical leadership

Mentoring

Cloud-native

AWS/GCP/Azure

Job description

About 7AI

7AI is the foundational AI security company. Founded in 2024 by Cybereason co-founders Lior Div and Yonatan Striem-Amit, we came out of stealth in February 2025 to take on the non-human work of the SOC. Our platform pairs a federated SIEM with AI agents that detect, investigate, respond, and hunt, plus dedicated threat hunting and threat intelligence, with humans on the loop.

Backed by $166 million in total funding from investors including Index Ventures and Blackstone, we're building the AI foundation for security operations in the agentic era, and we're still early. That's the appeal: you'll join at a pivotal stage where your work shapes what 7AI becomes, alongside security veterans who've built this before. Our culture runs on respect, collaboration, and a shared bar for excellence, all pointed at one goal, delivering real outcomes for the customers who trust us to defend them.

Overview

An AI-native cybersecurity platform is only as trustworthy as the systems it runs on. Get the foundation wrong and every AI agent built on top inherits that risk. As a Principal Software Engineer, you'll help define the technical foundation of our AI-native cybersecurity platform. You'll lead system design, drive complex technical initiatives from concept to production, and mentor engineers across the organization. You'll partner closely with engineering, product, design, AI, and security teams to turn hard, ambiguous problems into solid technical solutions. This is a 0→1 role for someone who wants real influence over both the technology and the engineering culture.

What You'll Do

• Lead design of scalable backend systems for our AI-native cybersecurity platform.
• Drive complex technical initiatives from 0→1, including system design, technical strategy, implementation, and operationalization.
• Partner with product, AI, security, and platform teams to turn ambiguous business and customer problems into solid technical solutions.
• Lead design discussions and provide technical leadership across multiple engineering domains and initiatives.
• Identify and address technical risks, scalability bottlenecks, and operational challenges before they affect the business.
• Improve system observability, reliability, testing, deployment workflows, and operational excellence across engineering.
• Help shape engineering culture by promoting high standards for execution, craftsmanship, collaboration, and ownership.
• Mentor engineers through technical guidance, design reviews, and hands-on collaboration.
• Work effectively in a fast-changing environment where priorities and technical challenges shift quickly.

What We're Looking For

• 15+ years of professional software engineering experience building and operating production-grade distributed systems.
• Proven experience leading the design and delivery of large-scale, highly available cloud-native systems.
• Strong system design expertise, including distributed systems, APIs, event-driven architectures, data-intensive applications, and infrastructure scalability.
• Experience leading complex technical projects with significant ambiguity and cross-functional coordination.
• Strong proficiency in one or more backend languages such as Rust, Python, TypeScript, or Go.
• Track record building systems on AWS, GCP, or Azure.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Comfortable and curious working with AI-assisted development tools such as Claude Code, Codex, or Cursor.

Nice to Have

• Experience building AI-native products or integrating LLM/agent-based systems into production environments.
• Background in cybersecurity, security operations, or high-sensitivity infrastructure environments.
• Experience designing multi-tenant SaaS platforms at scale.
• Familiarity with real-time data pipelines, streaming systems, and large-scale telemetry processing.
• Experience working in high-growth startup environments.
• Track record building and scaling engineering teams, processes, and technical culture.