Principal Software Engineer, .NET / Data / AI

Blackbaud; Charleston (SC); On-site; USD 133,700 - 173,800; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

401(k) program with employer match

Flexible paid time off

Generous Parental Leave

Tuition reimbursement program

Job summary

A leading tech company seeks a Principal Software Engineer with expertise in .NET and full-stack development. You will design and develop scalable, AI-powered applications, mentor engineers, and ensure high software quality. This role offers a competitive salary range of $133,700 to $173,800 with remote work flexibility and comprehensive benefits including health insurance and a 401(k) program.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in software engineering, with strong full-stack development skills.
• Experience in big data technologies (Spark, Databricks, Data Lake).
• Proficiency in C#, .NET Core, Python, and SQL with cloud platform experience.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop full-stack applications using .NET, C#, Angular, and modern web technologies.
• Build scalable backend services and APIs, integrating with databases and cloud platforms.
• Lead end-to-end delivery of high-quality software solutions.

Skills

Full-stack development

Data engineering

C#

Python

SQL

REST APIs

Azure

Prompt engineering

Agile methodologies

Job description

Overview

Principal Software Engineer, .NET / Data / AI at Blackbaud. We are seeking a highly experienced and versatile Principal Engineer with expertise in full-stack development, data engineering, and large language model (LLM) systems. This role is ideal for a technical leader who thrives in cross-functional environments, enjoys solving complex problems, and is passionate about building scalable, intelligent, and impactful software solutions.

You will lead the design and development of modern web applications, data pipelines, and AI-powered systems, collaborating with product managers, data scientists, and engineers across disciplines. Act as a bridge between product, engineering, and analytics teams to ensure alignment on data and AI initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop full-stack applications using .NET, C#, Angular, and modern web technologies (JavaScript/TypeScript, HTML, CSS).
• Build scalable backend services and APIs, integrating with databases and cloud platforms.
• Lead end-to-end delivery of high-quality software solutions, ensuring performance, security, and maintainability.
• Conduct code reviews, mentor engineers, and enforce coding standards and best practices.
• Integrate data from multiple sources and curate datasets for reporting, dashboards, and AI applications.
• Participate in data modeling efforts involving multiple data sources with dependencies across enterprise data models.
• Develop and embed reporting capabilities using tools like Power BI; write and optimize DAX expressions; manage and refactor Power BI source queries to align with evolving data architecture.
• Ensure data governance, security, and compliance with privacy regulations.
• Build and maintain LLM pipelines including prompt engineering, fine-tuning, and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG).
• Integrate with APIs from providers like OpenAI and manage vector databases.
• Debug and evaluate natural language queries translated to SQL, especially in AI-powered tools like Copilot.
• Identify and implement new capabilities to expand the functionality of AI assistants like Copilot.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in software engineering, with strong full-stack development skills.
• Experience in data engineering, including big data technologies (Spark, Databricks, Data Lake).
• Proficiency in C#, .NET Core, Python, and SQL; experience with cloud platforms (Azure preferred).
• Experience with REST APIs, asynchronous messaging, and microservices.
• Strong understanding of LLM concepts, including prompt engineering, fine-tuning, and RAG.
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, TDD, and Agile methodologies.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Remote-first workforce
• 401(k) program with employer match
• Flexible paid time off
• Generous Parental Leave
• Volunteer for vacation
• Opportunities to connect to build community and belonging
• Pet insurance, legal and identity protection
• Tution reimbursement program

Employment Details

• Remote-first company with flexible remote work culture.
• Blackbaud is an equal opportunity employer; all qualified applicants will be considered without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, physical or mental disability, age, veteran status, or any other basis protected by law.
• Salary range: The starting base pay is $133,700.00 to $173,800.00. Blackbaud may pay more or less based on qualifications and other factors.

To all recruitment agencies: We do not accept unsolicited agency resumes and are not responsible for fees related to unsolicited resumes.

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