Principal Engineer, Platform Systems

ADT•Boca Raton, FL

10h•$145,600 - $218,400•Hybrid

About The Position

The Principal Engineer, Platform Systems is a hands-on technical leader on the Product Engineering Architecture team. This role provides design leadership, cross-team technical alignment, and direct implementation support across cloud services, mobile, web, device/firmware, and partner integrations. The Principal Engineer leads system design for strategic and cross-team programs; produces architectural artifacts and decision records; facilitates architecture reviews; and builds proof-of-concepts and reference implementations in the codebase. This is not a review-only role. The position takes architectural work currently absorbed informally by senior engineers, shortens the runway on new initiatives, and strengthens continuity for a function that must scale beyond a single architect.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
10+ years of professional software engineering experience, including significant experience designing systems used across multiple teams or products.
Proven experience as a hands-on technical lead or architect for cross-team or platform initiatives, including both design leadership and direct contribution.
Demonstrated expertise building and operating cloud-native and distributed systems, including microservices, APIs, messaging systems, and data stores.
Experience producing architectural artifacts, including design documents, ADRs, and diagrams, that other engineers successfully execute against.
Deep experience designing distributed systems and integration architectures, including APIs, event-driven patterns, and partner/platform integrations.
Hands-on engineering credibility with expertise in at least one production stack (typically backend/cloud services) and the ability to deliver proof-of-concepts outside that stack when needed.
Strong written and verbal communication skills, with demonstrated care for conveying the right information to the right audience.
Ability to lead through influence rather than authority and partner effectively with engineering leads and cross-functional stakeholders.
Sound technical judgment across both functional and non-functional requirements, including scalability, reliability, security, operability, and cost.
Comfortable challenging designs constructively and facilitating disagreement toward clear decisions.
Effective mentor and coach for engineers on design and architecture practices.
Thrives in a fast-paced environment with multiple concurrent initiatives and shifting priorities.

Nice To Haves

Strong experience with Java and the Spring ecosystem for backend and cloud services.
Additional language experience welcome for cross-stack proof-of-concept work, including TypeScript/JavaScript, Kotlin/Swift familiarity, Python, or C/C++ exposure.
Experience with AWS and/or GCP.
Experience with containerization technologies such as Docker and Kubernetes, along with modern CI/CD practices.
Experience in IoT, security, consumer device platforms, or partner integration ecosystems.
Familiarity with mobile/backend integration patterns and multi-surface product architectures spanning applications, cloud services, devices, and partner systems.
Prior experience in a small architecture function partnering closely with delivery teams rather than operating as a pure governance or review board function.
Exposure to firmware or device constraints, or a willingness to ramp quickly when initiatives span device and cloud environments.

Responsibilities

Lead architecture for strategic initiatives and cross-team programs across cloud services, mobile, web, device/firmware, and partner integrations.
Develop architectural artifacts including system designs, standards, decision records (ADRs), and reference architectures that teams can reuse.
Facilitate architecture reviews and technical alignment across engineering teams; drive clarity on tradeoffs, risks, and decisions.
Investigate, design, prototype, and evaluate technical feasibility of new approaches; deliver proof-of-concepts and reference implementations.
Contribute directly to implementation of strategic initiatives when architectural expertise is required to reduce risk or accelerate delivery.
Partner with engineering leads, product, and program partners to catch cross-team requirements and integration risks early, at intake rather than late in delivery.
Promote reuse, consistency, and maintainability across the platform; identify and reduce architectural technical debt where it blocks delivery or scalability.
Reduce architectural workload currently carried by senior engineers on delivery teams by owning design leadership and follow-through on assigned initiatives.
Mentor engineers on design quality, architectural practice, and technical decision-making; provide constructive feedback in design and code reviews.
Communicate complex technical information effectively to the right audience through written RFCs/ADRs, diagrams, verbal facilitation, and code as explanation.
Operate effectively in ambiguous problem spaces; define clarity and lead through influence in a matrixed organization.
Perform additional duties as assigned.