Principal Software Engineer (Location Services)

Cotality; Irvine (CA); On-site; USD 134,000 - 199,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous PTO

11 paid holidays

Parental leave

Health coverage

401(k) matching

Well-being stipend

Tuition assistance

Referral bonuses

Job summary

Cotality is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to lead our Location Services team and shape architecture for geospatial capabilities across the company.

You will drive cross-team technical strategy, ensure scalability, accuracy, and operational excellence of location-based systems, and mentor engineers to raise engineering standards.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of professional software engineering with senior leadership.
• Experience designing and operating large-scale distributed systems.
• Strong geospatial knowledge: spatial data models, indexing, queries, transformations, accuracy.
• Proficiency in Java, C++, or Python.
• Experience building cloud-native services (GCP/AWS/Azure).
• Knowledge of relational/NoSQL/time-series/geospatial databases.
• Ability to influence direction across teams and communicate trade-offs.

Responsibilities

• Own and evolve architecture of core Location Services and geospatial capabilities.
• Lead system design for scalable, low-latency, highly available location services.
• Define standards for geospatial data modeling and processing.
• Guide cross-team initiatives spanning multiple services to meet performance, reliability, and security.
• Improve observability, resilience, and fault tolerance for geospatial systems.
• Mentor engineers and promote engineering rigor.

Skills

Geospatial concepts

Distributed systems design

Backend languages: Java, C++, Python

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Cloud platforms (GCP/AWS/Azure)

Job description

At Cotality, we are driven by a single mission-to make the property industry faster, smarter, and more people-centric. Cotality is the trusted source for property intelligence, with unmatched precision, depth, breadth, and insights across the entire ecosystem. Our talented team of 5,000 employees globally uses our network, scale, connectivity and technology to drive the largest asset class in the world. Join us as we work toward our vision of fueling a thriving global property ecosystem and a more resilient society. Cotality is committed to cultivating a diverse and inclusive work culture that inspires innovation and bold thinking; it's a place where you can collaborate, feel valued, develop skills and directly impact the real estate economy. We know our people are our greatest asset. At Cotality, you can be yourself, lift people up and make an impact. By putting clients first and continuously innovating, we're working together to set the pace for unlocking new possibilities that better serve the property industry.

Job Description

Role Overview

We are seeking a Principal Software Engineer to provide technical leadership for our Location Services team. This role is responsible for shaping architecture, driving cross-team technical strategy, and ensuring the scalability, correctness, and operational excellence of location-based systems across the company.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Leadership & Architecture

• Own and evolve the architecture of core Location Services and geospatial capabilities
• Lead system design for highly scalable, low-latency, and highly available location-based services
• Define standards and best practices for geospatial data modeling, querying, and processing
• Evaluate and introduce new technologies, patterns, and frameworks where they provide material benefit

Platform Ownership & Delivery

• Serve as technical owner for critical geospatial components and services
• Guide teams through complex technical initiatives spanning multiple services or domains
• Ensure solutions meet requirements for performance, accuracy, reliability, and security
• Actively influence roadmap direction through technical insight and risk assessment

Cross-Team Influence

• Partner with product, data, and infrastructure teams to align technical direction with business goals
• Provide technical insights to multiple engineering teams consuming Location Services
• Resolve cross-cutting technical issues and reduce architectural fragmentation

Operational Excellence

• Drive improvements in observability, resilience, and fault tolerance for geospatial systems
• Lead root-cause analysis for significant production issues and ensure long-term corrective action
• Champion automation, testing strategies, and reliability engineering practices

Mentorship & Engineering Culture

• Mentor senior and mid-level engineers, strengthening overall technical capability
• Set a high bar for engineering rigor, system design quality, and documentation
• Act as a role model for pragmatic decision-making and long-term systems thinking

Job Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years of professional software engineering experience, with demonstrated senior technical leadership
• Deep experience designing and operating large-scale distributed systems
• Strong expertise in geospatial concepts, such as:
• Spatial data models and indexing
• Geospatial queries, transformations, and projections
• Location accuracy, precision, and data quality considerations
• Proficiency in one or more backend programming languages (e.g., Java, C++, Python)
• Experience building and operating cloud-native services (e.g., GCP, AWS, or Azure)
• Strong understanding of data storage technologies (relational, NoSQL, time-series, or geospatial databases)
• Proven ability to influence technical direction across teams without direct authority
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical trade-offs to diverse audiences

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior ownership of location-based or geospatial platforms in production environments
• Experience with real-time or near-real-time location processing pipelines
• Familiarity with geospatial tooling and standards
• Experience with containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes)
• Background in reliability engineering, performance tuning, and scalability testing
• Experience guiding architectural decisions in a platform or shared-services organization

Annual Pay Range

134,400 - 199,000 USD

Application Window

This opportunity is expected to remain posted through the date identified below, subject to business needs.

2026-08-28

Thrive with Cotality

At Cotality, we offer more than just a job, we provide a benefits experience designed to support your whole self. From a flexible working model to competitive time off and standout health coverage with meaningful perks and growth opportunities, our package is built to help you thrive at work and in life.

Benefits

• Time off: Generous PTO and 11 paid holidays, plus well-being and volunteer time off.
• Family Support: Up to 16 weeks of fully paid parental leave and a baby stipend.
• Health: Multiple medical plan options with mental health and wellness support offerings.
• Retirement: 401(k) with company match and vesting after one year.
• Financial Perks: $400 annual well-being stipend and tuition assistance up to $5,250.
• Extras: Recognition Rewards, Referral bonuses, exclusive discounts and more!

Equal Opportunity and Inclusion

Cotality is an Equal Opportunity employer committed to attracting and retaining the best-qualified people available, without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability or status as a veteran of the Armed Forces, or any other basis protected by federal, state or local law.

Cotality maintains a Drug-Free Workplace.

Cotality is fully committed to a work environment that embraces everyone's unique contributions, experiences and values. We offer an empowered work environment that encourages creativity, initiative and professional growth and provides a competitive salary and benefits package.

We are better together when we support and recognize our differences.