Staff/Principle Software Engineer

Harnham; Oakland (CA); Hybrid; USD 280,000 - 350,000; Full time

Job summary

Harnham is seeking a Staff or Principal Software Engineer to partner with executive technology leadership. The role blends hands-on development with architectural ownership, focusing on AI-powered systems, workflow automation, and scalable platform capabilities.

You will work across distributed teams, design and validate new initiatives, and influence technical direction while delivering production-ready, data-driven software in a lean environment.

Qualifications

• Significant experience as a Staff, Principal, or senior technical leader in a software engineering environment.
• Backend development with Python and Django.
• Frontend development with React or modern web frameworks.
• Experience with AWS cloud services and modern infrastructure practices.
• Expertise with PostgreSQL or similar relational databases.
• Experience building AI-enabled products using modern LLM platforms and APIs.
• Strong system design, architectural decision-making, and software delivery skills.
• Proven ability to move from concept to production while remaining hands-on in implementation.
• Experience working with large-scale data, knowledge-management platforms, search systems, or information-rich applications.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop AI-powered applications, intelligent workflows, and agent-based systems.
• Build solutions leveraging internal datasets and large language model technologies.
• Create scalable backend services and platform capabilities that support product growth.
• Develop commercial and operational intelligence systems using behavioural and engagement data.
• Drive customer-focused experimentation, validation, and iterative product development.
• Build and optimise marketing technology capabilities, including personalisation, communications, engagement, and growth initiatives.
• Define technical architecture, establish engineering best practices, and contribute high-quality production code.
• Partner with product, business, and engineering stakeholders to translate ideas into scalable solutions.
• Collaborate effectively with distributed engineering teams across multiple time zones.

Skills

Leadership

Architectural design

Hands-on coding

Tools

Python

Django

React

AWS

PostgreSQL

LLM APIs

Job description

Principle/Staff Software Engineer

$280,000-$350,000

Overview

A profitable, growth-stage digital platform is seeking a highly experienced Staff or Principal Engineer to partner closely with executive technology leadership in shaping the next generation of product capabilities. This individual will serve as an early senior technical hire, owning architecture, implementation, experimentation, and validation of new initiatives. The role combines hands‑on software engineering with the design of AI‑powered systems, workflow automation, data‑driven products, and platform scalability. The ideal candidate thrives in lean environments, enjoys building from first principles, and is comfortable collaborating with globally distributed engineering teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and develop AI-powered applications, intelligent workflows, and agent-based systems.
• Build solutions leveraging internal datasets and large language model technologies.
• Create scalable backend services and platform capabilities that support product growth.
• Develop commercial and operational intelligence systems using behavioural and engagement data.
• Drive customer‑focused experimentation, validation, and iterative product development.
• Build and optimise marketing technology capabilities, including personalisation, communications, engagement, and growth initiatives.
• Define technical architecture, establish engineering best practices, and contribute high‑quality production code.
• Partner with product, business, and engineering stakeholders to translate ideas into scalable solutions.
• Collaborate effectively with distributed engineering teams across multiple time zones.

Required Qualifications

• Significant experience as a Staff, Principal, or senior technical leader in a software engineering environment.
• Strong backend development expertise using Python and Django.
• Frontend development experience with React or comparable modern web frameworks.
• Hands‑on experience with AWS cloud services and modern infrastructure practices.
• Expertise designing and working with PostgreSQL or similar relational databases.
• Experience building and deploying AI-enabled products using modern LLM platforms and APIs.
• Strong system design, architectural decision‑making, and software delivery skills.
• Proven ability to move from concept to production while remaining hands‑on in implementation.
• Experience working with large‑scale data, knowledge‑management platforms, search systems, or information‑rich applications.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience designing or operating agentic AI systems and workflow orchestration platforms.
• Exposure to regulated, healthcare, life sciences, or data‑sensitive industries.
• Background in growth engineering, marketing technology, or customer engagement systems.
• Experience collaborating with international or distributed engineering organisations.

Work Model / Location / Engagement Details

• Hybrid work model with regular in‑office collaboration.
• Requires overlap with internationally distributed engineering teams during morning hours.
• Opportunity to work directly with executive technology leadership.
• High‑impact role with significant ownership and influence over technical direction.
• Multiple hires anticipated as the organisation continues to expand.