Senior Principal Software Engineer

Atlassian; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 215,000 - 319,000; Full time

Job summary

Atlassian seeks a Senior Principal Software Engineer to lead the vision and execution of its API Platform. This role blends deep technical expertise with the ability to innovate in a fast-paced environment, influencing the future of the company's API ecosystem while fostering collaboration and operational excellence.

Benefits

Health and wellbeing resources

Paid volunteer days

Qualifications

• 12+ years of backend software development experience.
• Experience in principal/staff-level roles.
• Strong product sense and ability to align technical decisions with business goals.

Responsibilities

• Define the technical roadmap for the API Platform organization.
• Architect consumption-based monetization systems with analytics.
• Mentor senior engineers on API design and AI integration.

Skills

Backend software development

Collaboration skills

API design

AI integration

Tools

AWS

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. That way, Atlassians have more control over supporting their family, personal goals, and other priorities. We can hire people in any country where we have a legal entity. Interviews and onboarding are conducted virtually, a part of being a distributed-first company.

Overview

Working at Atlassian

Atlassians can choose where they work – whether in an office, from home, or a combination of the two. That way, Atlassians have more control over supporting their family, personal goals, and other priorities. We can hire people in any country where we have a legal entity. Interviews and onboarding are conducted virtually, a part of being a distributed-first company.

Overview

Atlassians can choose where they work - whether in an office, from home, or a combination of the two. That way, Atlassians have more control over supporting their family, personal goals, and other priorities. We can hire people in any country where we have a legal entity. Interviews and onboarding are conducted virtually, a part of being a distributed-first company.

Our office is in Mountain View, CA, but we offer flexibility for eligible candidates to work remotely across the West Coast, US. Whatever your preference - working from home, an office, or in between - you can choose the place that's best for your work and your lifestyle. We call this TEAM anywhere.

The Role

We're seeking an exceptional Senior Principal Software Engineer to lead the technical vision and execution of our next-generation API Platform. This role requires a mix of deep technical expertise and the ability to operate in a quickly evolving space at the intersection of infrastructure and AI. You'll be building a comprehensive platform for governance, monitoring, and metering of all Atlassian APIs, including our newly released Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers.

You will work on foundational features as well as on 0-1 products that will shape how developers and customers will interact with Atlassian in the future. You will collaborate across departments to design and implement systems that address complex challenges, directly influencing the future of Atlassian’s API ecosystem.

Responsibilities

Key Responsibilities

• Define the technical roadmap for the API Platform organization, balancing immediate needs with long-term vision.
• Architect consumption-based monetization systems with sophisticated metering, billing, and analytics.
• Develop strategies and tools for AI-native features, including the Model Context Protocol (MCP), to enable seamless integration with next-generation products.
• Drive innovation in API lifecycle management, including versioning, deprecation, and migration strategies.
• Mentor senior engineers across the organization on API design and AI integration best practices.
• Build and foster a culture of innovation, operational excellence, and continuous learning.
  
  
  

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• 12+ years of backend software development experience, with at least 5 years in principal/staff-level roles.
• Proven experience in backend software development, with a strong track record of delivering large-scale, end-to-end initiatives.
• Strong product sense and the ability to align technical decisions with customer needs and business goals.
• Experience working on 0-to-1 products, thriving in environments with high uncertainty and complexity.
• Exceptional collaboration skills, with the ability to work across multiple departments and influence technical direction in a multi-team organization.
• Ability to communicate complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
  
  
  

Preferred Qualifications

• Expertise in API design, governance, and implementation, with a deep understanding of versioning, schema evolution, and standardization.
• Hands-on experience integrating LLMs/AI models into production backend systems.
• Expertise in cloud platforms (AWS preferred) including serverless and container orchestration.
• Deep knowledge of API security: OAuth, API keys, rate limiting, and DDoS protection.
  
  
  

Compensation

At Atlassian, we strive to design equitable, explainable, and competitive compensation programs. To support this goal, the baseline of our range is higher than that of the typical market range, but in turn we expect to hire most candidates near this baseline. Base pay within the range is ultimately determined by a candidate's skills, expertise, or experience. In the United States, we have three geographic pay zones. For this role, our current base pay ranges for new hires in each zone are:

Zone A: $239,000 - $318,600

Zone B: $215,100 - $286,700

Zone C: $198,300 - $264,400

This role may also be eligible for benefits, bonuses, commissions, and equity.

Please visit go.atlassian.com/payzones for more information on which locations are included in each of our geographic pay zones. However, please confirm the zone for your specific location with your recruiter.

Our Perks & Benefits

Atlassian offers a wide range of perks and benefits designed to support you, your family and to help you engage with your local community. Our offerings include health and wellbeing resources, paid volunteer days, and so much more. To learn more, visit go.atlassian.com/perksandbenefits .

About Atlassian

At Atlassian, we're motivated by a common goal: to unleash the potential of every team. Our software products help teams all over the planet and our solutions are designed for all types of work. Team collaboration through our tools makes what may be impossible alone, possible together.

We believe that the unique contributions of all Atlassians create our success. To ensure that our products and culture continue to incorporate everyone's perspectives and experience, we never discriminate based on race, religion, national origin, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, or marital, veteran, or disability status. All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

To provide you the best experience, we can support with accommodations or adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process. Simply inform our Recruitment team during your conversation with them.

To learn more about our culture and hiring process, visit go.atlassian.com/crh .

Seniority level

• Seniority level

  Mid-Senior level

Employment type

• Employment type

  Full-time

Job function

• Job function

  Engineering and Information Technology

• Industries

  Software Development

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