Principal IT Engineer

Entrust•Minneapolis, MN

2d•$142,797 - $209,436•Hybrid

About The Position

The Principal IT Engineer is a highly senior, customer-facing technical expert for Entrust Professional Services in the Americas. This individual contributor role combines the deployment depth of a senior systems integrator with the consultative, architectural, commercial and continuous-improvement capability of an issuance industry consultant. The role supports internal teams, partners and customers by solving complex technical and operational problems involving Entrust solutions, related issuance products and services. The role serves as a go-to subject matter expert and senior escalation point for complex solution architecture, root-cause analysis, customization challenges, proposal support, cross-training, high-complexity estimation, product feedback and long-term corrective programs. Success depends on deep product and professional services knowledge, independent judgment, structured follow-through, customer empathy, commercial awareness and the ability to influence diverse stakeholders without direct authority.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, MIS, Engineering, Industrial Engineering or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
Minimum of 15+ years of experience as a senior systems integrator, systems engineer, software/support engineer, solutions architect, technical consultant or related role.
Deep experience with card personalization, including but not limited to: EMV, issuance environments, production-management solutions, and others (not exhaustive list).
Strong understanding of secure customer environments, including financial, government, bureau or identity personalization operations.
Experience performing customer-site discovery, requirements assessment, solution design, installation, integration, validation and production troubleshooting.
Strong working knowledge of infrastructure technologies such as Windows/Linux servers, networking, DNS, Active Directory, IIS, databases, availability and scalability.
Ability to troubleshoot across software, hardware, network, database, production workflow and customer-operational layers.
Experience supporting complex proposals, estimates, assumptions, risk identification and solution options for large or technically challenging projects.
Strong communication, presentation, customer engagement and relationship-building skills, including the ability to explain complex technical topics to non-technical stakeholders.
Ability to travel throughout North, Central and South America for customer-site assessments, requirements gathering, installation, integration, troubleshooting and relationship building.

Nice To Haves

Entrust product experience, including DPP, Adaptive Issuance, Secura, card/credential issuance, central issuance, bureau solutions, related personalization software or adjacent identity and payment solutions.
Familiarity with PKI, key management, HSMs, secure credential issuance, EMV personalization and related security concepts.
Experience with scripting, automation or technical customization using tools such as PowerShell, Python, JavaScript, SQL or similar technologies.
Experience with cloud, containerization or modern platform technologies such as Azure, AWS, Docker, Kubernetes or similar tools.
Experience developing consulting reports, architecture recommendations, business cases, implementation roadmaps or operational improvement plans.
Experience creating customer-facing proposals, unsolicited proposals, consulting packages, service offerings or pre-sales technical materials.
Working knowledge of project financial fundamentals, including cost-effective delivery decisions, margin awareness, effort estimation and resource-efficiency trade-offs.
Experience with analytics, operational assessment, Lean/continuous-improvement methods, process optimization or production-efficiency improvement.
Multilingual capability or experience working across diverse Americas customer environments is an asset.

Responsibilities

Act as one of the most senior technical escalation resources for complex Professional Services, partner and customer issues across the Americas.
Perform remote and on-site discovery, installation, integration, configuration, validation and troubleshooting for Entrust issuance solutions.
Assess customer environments, technical constraints, security needs, system dependencies and operational risks to create practical architectural solutions.
Troubleshoot advanced issues across servers, networks, operating systems, databases, personalization hardware, product software, availability, scalability and secure production environments.
Support root-cause analysis for recurring or high-impact issues, document findings, recommend corrective actions and help prevent recurrence.
Liaise between customers, partners, Professional Services, Technical Support, Engineering, Product Management and Sales to move complex issues toward resolution.
Engage customers on-site and remotely to understand business requirements, operational pain points, production constraints and desired outcomes.
Translate complex technical and operational observations into clear recommendations, solution options, consulting reports and proposals.
Support pre-sales, sales and bid teams with complex estimates, technical assumptions, solution positioning, proposal content and value-based service offerings.
Serve as a trusted advisor to customers and external delivery partners, helping them understand Entrust capabilities, solution trade-offs and implementation considerations.
Identify services or solution patterns that can be packaged, priced and offered to existing or new customers in partnership with Sales, Product Management and Professional Services leadership.
Provide informal mentorship, coaching and technical guidance to systems integrators, developers, engineers, project managers, partners and support teams.
Contribute product, architecture, serviceability and implementation feedback to Engineering and Product Management based on field experience.
Create or improve reusable documentation, troubleshooting guides, deployment notes, solution patterns, best-practice playbooks and internal enablement material.
Stay current on Entrust products, services, issuance market trends, customer drivers and emerging technologies relevant to Americas Professional Services.
Support stakeholders outside the Americas or outside Professional Services when specialized expertise is needed, while remaining primarily focused on Americas delivery and consulting priorities.
Break highly complex issues into actionable workstreams, milestones, owners, dependencies, risks and measurable outcomes.
Identify recurring root causes that reduce quality, delivery efficiency, profitability or customer experience, and recommend sustainable corrective programs.
Quantify improvements where possible, including reduced defects, improved service efficiency, reduced rework, improved customer outcomes or better project margin performance.
Promote practical use of automation, AI productivity tools, templates, knowledge repositories and repeatable methods to improve Professional Services execution.