Job Description

Job Title: Principal Engineer

Company: Instructure

Years of Experience: 10+ years (including 3+ years in a Lead/Principal role)

Location: US-Remote

Role Type: Full-Time

Salary: Competitive (based on experience; typically aligned with senior leadership engineering roles in global SaaS companies)

Eligibility

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience)
• 10+ years of progressive software development experience
• 3+ years in a leadership role (Lead/Principal Engineer)
• Strong background in distributed systems and platform engineering
• Proven experience mentoring teams and driving technical strategy

Role Overview

As a Principal Engineer, you will act as a senior technical leader responsible for shaping the architecture and direction of the developer portal and PaaS platform. You will work cross-functionally to design scalable, reliable systems, guide engineering teams, and elevate the overall developer experience. This role combines deep hands-on engineering with strategic technical leadership.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead architecture design and technical strategy for PaaS platforms and developer-facing products
• Build and deliver scalable, high-quality software across multiple systems and technologies
• Mentor engineers and promote best practices in coding, system design, and architecture
• Collaborate with Engineering, SRE, and stakeholders to translate business needs into technical solutions
• Evaluate and implement new tools, frameworks, and technologies
• Continuously improve engineering processes, tooling, and infrastructure

Skills and Qualifications

• Strong expertise in distributed systems and scalable architecture
• Proficiency in languages such as Ruby, Python, Java, JavaScript, or Go
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP)
• Hands-on experience with Docker and Kubernetes
• Strong understanding of relational and NoSQL databases
• Experience with DevOps practices and Agile methodologies