Principal Software Engineer (hands-on)

cars; United States; On-site; USD 175,800 - 219,750; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental & Vision Plans

New Hire Home Office Stipend

Generous PTO

Job summary

Cars Commerce seeks a Principal Software Engineer to own the Platform Core Services, including Identity, Inventory, and Leads, driving architecture and high-concurrency decisions. You will guide backend and frontend surfaces, shape data models, and implement AI-native workflows that accelerate delivery and product impact.

The role emphasizes leadership, cross-functional influence, and a hands-on approach to solve complex concurrency challenges at scale, with a focus on sub-second latency and

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Computer Science or equivalent industry experience.
• 12+ years of software engineering excellence, including significant time at the Staff or Principal level.
• Deep expertise in designing high-concurrency distributed systems.
• Architect an extensible frontend platform with robust state management and scalable UI performance.
• Proven ability to leverage AI to accelerate product and engineering outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Serve as technical north star for Platform Core Services and drive architecture strategy.
• Lead end-to-end transformation and ownership of backend and product surfaces.
• Drive RFCs, data benchmarks, and trade-off analyses across engineering and product teams.
• Collaborate with Staff/Senior engineers to raise the technical ceiling of the organization.

Skills

TypeScript/Node.js

Distributed systems design

Data-driven decision making

RBAC design

Leadership & strategy

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or equivalent

Tools

Kafka/MSK

Job description

Be essential at Cars Commerce

At Cars Commerce, we’re fanatical about simplifying everything about car buying and selling. We do right by our customers and consumers to better connect the industry with simplified and tierless technology to enhance, measure and drive local automotive retail. Whether through our No.1 most recognized marketplace, Cars.com, our industry-leading digital experience, Dealer Inspire, our trade and appraisal technology, AccuTrade, our reputation-based digital wholesale auction marketplace, Dealerclub, or our new Cars Commerce Media Network, Cars Commerce is essential for success in the automotive industry.

No one ever travels alone here: at its core, Cars Commerce is collaboration. In fact, it’s built into the very fabric of our shared values. We like to say we Rise Together – putting people at the center of what we do, from consumer to customer to community. Life at Cars Commerce makes it easy when we share the ethos to be Open to All, encouraging open-minded communication because we know diverse thinking yields better outcomes. But critical to our success is Caring to Challenge and Taking Ownership, fueling a competitive spirit in a respectful environment where we think about tomorrow but act today. At our foundation, we have integrity, Doing the Right Thing, even when it’s hard. It’s our shared commitment to these values that makes Cars Commerce a place where growth becomes not only possible, but downright unavoidable.

But don’t take our word for it. We are proud to be named one of Built In’s 2026 Best Places to Work in Chicago and across the U.S. Ready to make your mark? Join a team that's driving real change in the automotive industry.

ABOUT THE ROLE (May require onsite interviews)

Join us in shaping the future of Automotive Commerce. We are undergoing a transformational and exciting shift to deliver a single platform that simplifies everything about buying and selling cars. We are unifying an ecosystem of automotive brands into a single, high-throughput, service-oriented platform.

As a Principal Software Engineer, you will be the technical north star for the Platform Core Services team. This team owns the high-concurrency engines—Identity, Inventory, and Leads—that power a multi-billion dollar marketplace. We’re looking for a technical architect and lead-from-the-front builder to drive this transformation. This is a role for an engineer who wants end-to-end sovereignty over both backend systems and the product surfaces that transform data into actionable insights—from complex RBAC systems to sophisticated self-service UIs.

We are an AI-first organization. We leverage Claude Code to bypass the boilerplate tax, allowing our engineers to spend the majority of their time on high-order systems design rather than routine implementation. This is a rare opportunity: the scale of an industry leader with the velocity and intellectual freedom of a high-growth startup.

ABOUT YOU

As a Principal Software Engineer, you are a highly skilled, hands-on technical leader who can shape high-level technology strategy one hour and roll up your sleeves to solve a complex concurrency bug the next. You believe that the best code is written by humans empowered by world-class AI, and you thrive on solving the most challenging problems at the heart of a massive platform. You are a lifelong student of systems who uses data—not dogma—to improve, influence, and lead impactful change at scale.

WHY YOU’LL BE EXCITED ABOUT THIS ROLE

This opportunity enables you to…

• Architectural Stewardship: Define the evolution of our services to support sub-second latency and massive concurrency. You will bridge the gap between heavy-lift backend systems and modern, intuitive UI products.
• AI Orchestration: Redefine the SDLC by integrating LLM-based orchestration into the development workflow, significantly increasing the organization’s velocity.
• Influence via Data: Lead the RFC process by driving consensus across engineering and product boundaries. You don't rely on title power—you use data, benchmarks, and clear trade‑off analysis to align stakeholders.
• Operational Excellence at Scale: Own the Four Nines (99.99%) for services handling tens of thousands of requests per second. You will treat observability and developer experience as first‑class products.
• Force Multiplier: Act as a sponsor for Staff and Senior engineers. You are responsible for raising the technical ceiling of the entire engineering organization.

WE’RE EXCITED ABOUT YOU BECAUSE…

• Education: Bachelor’s degree or higher in Computer Science or equivalent industry experience.
• Track Record: 12+ years of software engineering excellence, including significant time at the Staff or Principal level.
• Backend Mastery: Deep expertise in designing high-concurrency distributed systems. You are comfortable navigating complex data‑consistency models, event‑driven architectures (Kafka/MSK), and optimizing for sub-second latency.
• Frontend as a System: You don’t just build UIs; you architect extensible frontend platforms. This means designing robust State Management strategies, implementing complex RBAC across the stack, and ensuring UI performance through efficient data‑fetching patterns.
• Pragmatic Polyglot: You are an expert in TypeScript/Node.js, but you are language‑agnostic. You choose the tool that fits the problem, not the one that fits your comfort zone.
• AI Native: You believe AI is the biggest shift in engineering since the Cloud. You have an established workflow for leveraging LLMs to accelerate personal and team‑wide output.
• Strategic Advisory & Influence: You bridge the gap between technical possibility and business reality. You have a proven ability to drive consensus in complex environments by using data—not just opinion—to influence stakeholders and align engineering roadmaps with C‑suite objectives.
• Architectural R&D: You don’t just maintain a stack—you evolve it. You have a track record of evaluating emerging technologies (e.g., NewSQL, Edge Computing, or Agentic AI) and running proof‑of‑concepts that modernize the tech stack without disrupting production stability.

Bonus

Experience within a large-scale, Big Tech, or high‑growth environment or FAANG, Uber, Stripe etc.

Salary Range $175,800.00-219,750.00

Our Comprehensive Benefits Package includes:

• Medical, Dental & Vision Healthcare Plans
• New Hire Stipend for Home Office Set‑Up
• Generous PTO
• Paid Holidays, Floating Holiday, Volunteer Day, Recharge Day

Learn more about our Benefits, Perks, & Culture on our LinkedIn Life Pages!

For US-based Positions: Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States. Please note that we are unable to sponsor employment visas at this time.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

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