Staff/Principal Software Engineer

Wintermeyer Ventures; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 217,000 - 410,000; Full time

Job summary

Wintermeyer Ventures is seeking a Staff or Principal Software Engineer to shape the technical direction of a B2B SaaS platform. You will own architecture for large-scale distributed systems or AI agent products, guiding platform decisions in collaboration with product leadership.

You will lead complex initiatives, evaluate build vs buy, and set engineering standards across teams while leveraging AI-assisted tools to accelerate design and delivery.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of software engineering with ownership of large-scale distributed systems.
• Experience designing large-scale data and distributed systems.
• Experience with Ruby, Rails, Python, MongoDB, or Elasticsearch.
• Familiar with React, Kubernetes, Docker, Terraform, and GCP.
• Hands-on use of AI-assisted development tools.

Responsibilities

• Own architecture and technical direction for major platform areas.
• Lead complex projects and balance build, buy, and cost tradeoffs.
• Establish engineering standards and patterns across teams.
• Partner with product leaders to align technical decisions with business priorities.
• Use AI-assisted tools to accelerate design, investigation, and implementation.

Skills

Distributed systems

Large-scale architecture

LLM-based systems

React

Kubernetes

Docker

Terraform

GCP

AI tools

CS fundamentals

English communication

Tools

Ruby

Rails

Python

MongoDB

Elasticsearch

Job description

About the Role

As a Staff or Principal Software Engineer, you will shape technical direction across a B2B SaaS platform, tackling complex challenges in distributed systems or AI agent products. Your work will help guide platform architecture and align engineering decisions with business goals.

What You'll Do

• Own architecture and technical direction for a major area of the platform, focused on large-scale distributed systems or agent-centric AI products.
• Lead complex technical projects and make build, buy, and cost tradeoffs that affect the engineering organization.
• Establish engineering standards and patterns that support multiple teams.
• Partner with engineering and product leaders to align technical decisions with business priorities.
• Use AI-assisted development tools and agents to accelerate design, investigation, and implementation.

What We're Looking For

• 8 or more years of software engineering experience, including ownership and operation of large-scale distributed systems serving 100,000 or more users.
• Experience designing large-scale data and distributed systems, and working with databases or building LLM-based systems.
• Experience with one or more of Ruby, Rails, Python, MongoDB, or Elasticsearch.
• Familiarity with technologies such as React, Kubernetes, Docker, Terraform, and GCP.
• Hands-on use of AI-assisted development tools such as Copilot or Cursor.
• Strong computer science fundamentals or at least 5 years of professional experience.

Compensation & Benefits

Salary range: $217,000 to $410,000 USD annually. Visa sponsorship is available.

Location

Hybrid, with 3 days per week in the San Francisco, California office.