Principal Software Engineer – Data & AI Platform

Socket.dev; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 198,000 - 273,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity compensation

Bonus incentive compensation

Competitive base pay

Job summary

Procore seeks a Principal Software Engineer to define and execute the long-term technical strategy for backend and AI services powering data applications and production-grade data platform capabilities.

You will shape architectural standards, platform evolution, AI enablement, and modern development practices at scale, driving AI capabilities into core products securely and cost-effectively.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of software engineering experience with backend system architecture.
• Strong foundation in object oriented programming and scalable design.
• Experience building large scale data platforms and data driven apps.
• Expertise in REST and GraphQL APIs, including versioning and security.
• Hands-on with distributed data processing and streaming (Spark, Kafka).
• Ability to architect end-to-end production grade systems with reliability.
• Experience with LLM integration, RAG, vector search, or agent orchestration.
• Proficient in cloud native environments and modern CI/CD practices.
• Ability to influence architecture across multiple domains.
• Bachelor’s in CS/CE; Master’s preferred.

Responsibilities

• Serve as technical authority for domain architecture and long term system health.
• Translate business priorities into scalable backend, data, and AI architectures.
• Design large scale data platforms and backend services with low latency APIs.
• Establish durable data modeling standards across domains for scalability.
• Lead production grade AI systems including LLMs, RAG, vector search, and orchestration.
• Guide SDLC with agentic tooling and modern development practices.
• Ensure governance, observability, security and cost efficiency in solutions.
• Deliver reference architectures and patterns beyond a single team.
• Anticipate risks and drive iterative modernization across systems.
• Collaborate with product leaders to convert opportunities into robust systems.
• Mentor senior engineers and raise AI-native engineering standards.

Skills

Backend architecture

OO programming

Data platforms

REST APIs

GraphQL APIs

Distributed processing

LLM integration

CI/CD

Cloud native

Strategic lead

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree (preferred)

Tools

Spark

Kafka

Vector search

LLM tooling

Job description

We are seeking a Principal Software Engineer to serve as a senior technical leader responsible for defining and executing the long term technical strategy for backend and AI services that power data applications and production grade data platform capabilities. This role will directly influence how we use data and AI to improve customer and project health, and drive long term customer value through increased engagement, adoption, and value realization of Procore products and services.

You will shape architectural standards, platform evolution, AI enablement, and modern development practices. As the company accelerates investment in AI, you will play a pivotal role in defining how AI capabilities are designed, governed, scaled, and embedded into core products and internal platforms in a secure, reliable, and cost effective manner.

You will work from a clear vision of the desired future state and methodically guide systems toward that outcome through deliberate architectural decisions and pragmatic, iterative execution. This role blends strategic leadership with hands-on impact. You will contribute high leverage production code, establish cross cutting architectural patterns, eliminate ambiguity in complex initiatives, and elevate engineering standards across teams.

What You’ll Do

• Serve as the technical authority for one or more domains, owning architectural direction and long term system health across multiple business functions.

• Translate strategic business priorities into scalable backend, data, and AI architectures that support sustained growth and enterprise adoption.

• Define and evolve the architecture of large scale data platforms and backend services, including distributed compute, streaming systems, low latency query layers, and API surfaces for multiple front-end experiences.

• Establish durable data modeling standards across operational and analytical domains to ensure consistency, scalability, and long term maintainability.

• Lead the design of production grade AI systems, including LLM integration, RAG pipelines, vector search, semantic retrieval, and agent based orchestration patterns.

• Leverage generative tools, agentic coding systems (e.g., Claude Code, Cursor), and agentic workflows to accelerate the SDLC process and move faster

• Ensure standards for AI and data governance, observability, performance, security and cost are built into solutions.

• Deliver cross cutting architectural patterns and reference implementations that shape engineering practices beyond a single team.

• Anticipate structural and scaling risks, and guide systems toward the desired future state through deliberate, iterative modernization.

• Partner with product and engineering leaders to convert high value opportunities into robust, production systems.

• Act as a hands on technical leader, contributing high leverage code, mentoring senior engineers, and raising execution and AI native engineering standards across the organization.

What We’re Looking For

• 15+ years of software engineering experience, including deep expertise in backend system architecture.

• Strong foundation in object oriented programming principles, with the ability to design modular, extensible, and maintainable systems at scale.

• Proven experience building and operating large scale data platforms and data driven applications, with deep expertise in distributed data compute frameworks and large scale batch and streaming processing systems.

• Deep expertise designing, implementing, and evolving REST and GraphQL APIs at scale, including schema design, versioning strategy, performance optimization, authorization patterns, backward compatibility, and developer experience for both internal and external consumers.

• Hands-on experience with distributed data processing and streaming architectures, including Spark or similar compute engines, event driven systems such as Kafka, and speed layer query engines that support low latency, high volume data access patterns.

• Demonstrated ability to architect and deliver end to end, production grade systems that orchestrate and automate complex, cross domain business workflows with strong reliability, observability, and long term maintainability.

• Practical experience with LLM integration, RAG architectures, Vector Search, MCP, agent orchestration, or similar intelligent system patterns.

• Experience operating in cloud native environments with modern CI/CD practices.

• Demonstrated ability to influence architectural direction across multiple domains.

• Strong ability to navigate organizational boundaries and operate autonomously at a strategic level.

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field required. Master’s degree preferred.

Additional Information

Base Pay Range:

198,240.00 - 272,580.00 USD Annual

This role may also be eligible for Equity Compensation and/or Bonus Incentive Compensation. Procore is committed to offering competitive, fair, and commensurate compensation. Actual compensation will be based on a candidate’s job-related skills, experience, education or training, and location.

For Los Angeles County (unincorporated) Candidates:

Procore will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with arrest or conviction records, in accordance with the requirements of applicable federal, state, and local laws, including the City of Los Angeles' Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the California Fair Chance Act.

A criminal history may have a direct, adverse, and negative relationship on the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of the conditional offer of employment: 1. appropriately managing, accessing, and handling confidential information including proprietary and trade secret information, as well as accessing Procore's information technology systems and platforms; 2. interacting with and occasionally having unsupervised contact with internal/external customers, stakeholders, and/or colleagues; and 3. exercising sound judgment.