Senior Principal Software Engineer

Atlassian; Mountain View (CA); Hybrid; USD 215,000 - 319,000; Full time

Job summary

Atlassian is seeking a Senior Principal Software Engineer to deliver transformative solutions and mentor others. Taking on leadership responsibilities, your role will focus on technical excellence within distributed systems. You will drive collaborative initiatives and address complex architectural challenges across teams, ensuring engineering excellence.

Benefits

Health resources

Paid volunteer days

Qualifications

• 12+ years in backend software development, especially with distributed systems.
• 5+ years experience with systems like web crawler and data ingress.
• Expertise in system design and waste-effective architecture.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with partner teams to define technical direction.
• Solve complex problems from design to implementation.
• Champion best practices for reliability and performance.

Skills

System design

Performance tuning

Distributed systems principles

Mentoring

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s in Computer Science

Tools

Kotlin

Java

Go

Rust

Python

Job description

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Working at Atlassian
Atlassians can choose where they work – whether in an office, from home, or a combination of the two. This flexibility allows Atlassians to support their family, personal goals, and other priorities. We hire in any country where we have a legal entity. Interviews and onboarding are conducted virtually, reflecting our distributed-first approach.

Overview
As a Senior Principal Engineer, you are an expert with extensive experience across multiple backend technologies. You will work across departments to deliver scalable, transformational solutions, mentor others, and take on high-level responsibilities. Your role emphasizes leadership, technical excellence, and strategic influence.

• Collaborate with partner teams to define technical direction and OKRs for the Central AI organization.
• Tackle complex problems from design to implementation and launch.
• Partner across engineering teams on company-wide initiatives.
• Address architecture challenges and apply standards to new projects.
• Work with senior leadership to build strategy and design solutions that earn customer trust and support business goals.
• Own key OKRs and outcomes of critical projects in a microservices environment.
• Champion best practices for scalability, reliability, and performance.
• Ensure engineering and operational excellence, proactively improving systems and processes.
• Drive developer productivity and foster an innovative, responsible culture.

Qualifications

• Preferred: 5+ years experience with systems like web crawler, link graph mining, web data ingress, or scheduler systems.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related.
• 12+ years in backend software development, especially with distributed systems and large-scale storage.
• Proficiency in system design, performance tuning, and cost-effective architecture for exabyte-scale storage.
• Expertise in one of Kotlin, Java, Go, Rust, or Python.
• Experience leading technical strategies and architecture in large organizations.
• Strong understanding of distributed systems principles.
• Mentoring experience for senior engineers and leading impactful initiatives.

Compensation

Our pay ranges are competitive and aligned with market standards, with specific zones in the US: Zone A: $239K-$318.6K, Zone B: $215.1K-$286.7K, Zone C: $198.3K-$264.4K. Benefits, bonuses, and equity may also be included. Confirm your zone with your recruiter.

Benefits & Perks

We offer health resources, paid volunteer days, and more. Details at go.atlassian.com/perksandbenefits.

About Atlassian

Our mission is to unleash the potential of every team. We value diversity and inclusion, ensuring a supportive environment for all. We accommodate needs during the recruitment process. Learn more at go.atlassian.com/crh.

Seniority level

• Mid-Senior level

Employment type

• Full-time

Job function

• Engineering and IT

Industries

• Software Development