Principal Software Engineer
Leads architectural vision and design of large-scale distributed systems for Fivetran's data movement platform. Drives cross-team initiatives, mentors engineers, and optimizes performance/scalability; requires 12+ years experience with backend systems like Java.
About the job
What You’ll Do
- Define Technical Strategy: Set the long-term architectural vision for core platform systems, ensuring scalability, reliability, and efficiency.
- Lead Complex System Design: Drive the design and evolution of large-scale distributed systems that power Fivetran’s data movement platform.
- Drive Cross-Team Initiatives: Lead high-impact projects spanning multiple teams, align stakeholders, and ensure successful execution.
- Raise the Engineering Bar: Establish best practices for system design, code quality, and operational excellence across the organization.
- Mentor and Influence: Guide and mentor senior and staff engineers, shaping technical decision-making beyond your immediate team.
- Improve Platform Performance: Identify and lead efforts to optimize system performance, reliability, and cost at scale.
- Champion Innovation: Evaluate and introduce new technologies and approaches to improve developer experience and platform capabilities.
Skills We’re Looking For
- Extensive Experience: 12+ years of software engineering experience, with deep expertise in building and operating large-scale distributed systems.
- System Design Mastery: Proven ability to design and evolve complex, scalable, and reliable platform architectures.
- Technical Leadership: Demonstrated experience leading cross-team technical initiatives and influencing engineering direction.
- Strong Programming Skills: Expertise in backend development (Java preferred) with a solid foundation in data structures and system fundamentals.
- Performance & Reliability: Experience optimizing system performance, scalability, and cost in high-throughput systems.
- Communication & Influence: Strong ability to communicate complex technical ideas and influence senior stakeholders.
- Ownership & Ambiguity: Track record of driving ambiguous, high-impact problems from definition to execution.
Bonus Skills
- Experience in data processing (ETL, ELT) and/or cloud-based platforms
- Experience working in startup environments.
Technologies You’ll Use
- Java (JVM, JIT, GC tuning, thread management), JUnit
- Claude Code
- Docker and Kubernetes
- AWS, GCP
- Bazel, BuildKite
- Observability tools (Datadog, Grafana)
Perks and Benefits
- 100% employer-paid medical insurance*
- Generous paid time-off policy (PTO), plus paid sick time, inclusive parental leave policy, holidays, and volunteer days off
- RSU stock grants*
- Professional development and training opportunities
- Company virtual happy hours, free food, and fun team-building activities
- Monthly cell phone stipend
- Access to an innovative mental health support platform
Skills
Java, Kubernetes, Docker, AWS, GCP, Datadog, Grafana, Bazel, Buildkite, Junit
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