Prinicpal Engineer

Principal Engineer – Distributed Systems / Cloud Platform

Location: Menlo Park Area, CA (Bay Area) – Hybrid

Type: Full-time

A high-growth technology company building next-generation platforms that connect physical operations, intelligent automation, and enterprise software is seeking a Principal Engineer to lead architecture and development of mission-critical systems.

The platform combines cloud services, edge computing, IoT integrations, and AI-driven applications to support complex real-world environments at scale.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role for an engineer who enjoys designing systems that operate across distributed infrastructure and physical environments.

Role Overview

As a Principal Engineer, you will be responsible for defining and scaling architecture across cloud, edge, and device-connected systems. You will collaborate closely with engineering, data, and product teams to design highly scalable platforms that integrate real-world hardware, operational data, and intelligent applications.

The role requires strong system design skills, deep engineering experience, and the ability to guide architecture in a fast-moving product environment.

Key Responsibilities System Architecture & Technical Leadership

• Drive end-to-end architecture across distributed systems spanning cloud, edge, and connected environments

• Design scalable, resilient architectures for multi-tenant SaaS platforms

• Lead technical design reviews and architectural decision making

• Mentor senior engineers and help establish engineering best practices

Hardware & Edge Integration

• Design robust interfaces between hardware systems and cloud applications

• Integrate edge devices, sensors, and connected systems into scalable platforms

• Ensure reliable real-time data ingestion and processing

• Optimize performance across distributed infrastructure and physical environments

Cloud & Platform Engineering

• Architect and build cloud-native applications (GCP preferred)

• Design and implement multi-tenant platform architectures

• Build microservices using modern containerized infrastructure including:

  • Kubernetes

  • Docker / container environments

  • Kafka or similar messaging systems

  • Redis

  • BigQuery

  • MongoDB

• Ensure high availability, observability, and operational scalability

Application Development

• Develop backend systems using:

  • Java (Spring Boot)

  • Python frameworks (FastAPI or similar)

  • Node-based frameworks

• Design APIs, event-driven services, and distributed system patterns

Data & AI Integration

• Integrate machine learning outputs into production applications

• Support large-scale data pipelines and analytics workflows

• Enable intelligent decisioning within operational platforms

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related discipline (or equivalent experience)

• 10+ years of software engineering experience with strong system-level architecture exposure

• Experience building cloud-native SaaS platforms

• Deep experience with distributed systems and microservices architectures

• Expertise with:

  • Kubernetes / container orchestration

  • Kafka or event streaming systems

  • Redis

  • MongoDB

  • BigQuery or large-scale data platforms

• Strong backend development experience with Java and/or Python

• Experience designing systems that operate at scale across distributed infrastructure

Preferred Experience

• Experience integrating IoT or hardware-connected systems

• Exposure to large-scale operational or real-world technology platforms

• Familiarity with AI/ML production systems

• Experience designing edge-to-cloud architectures

What Success Looks Like

• Highly scalable platform architecture capable of supporting rapid growth

• Reliable integration between physical systems and cloud platforms

• Clean, maintainable codebases supporting complex distributed workflows

• Strong technical culture with high engineering standards