Principal Software Development Engineer

Fortinet•Santa Clara, CA

7h•$212,000 - $259,000

About The Position

As a Principal Software Engineer, you will serve as a senior technical leader responsible for defining architecture, driving large-scale system design, and shaping long-term technical strategy across backend, AI, and cloud-native platforms. This role combines deep hands-on engineering with cross-team influence. You will operate in high-ambiguity environments, translate business and product vision into scalable technical solutions, and raise engineering standards across the organization. The Principal Engineer is expected to lead through technical excellence, systems thinking, and pragmatic decision-making — delivering durable, scalable, and intelligent systems that power mission-critical products.

Requirements

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field
10+ years of software development experience with demonstrated technical leadership at scale
Proven expertise in backend system design and distributed architecture
Strong understanding of concurrency models, system reliability, scalability patterns, and performance tuning
Deep knowledge of data systems (SQL/NoSQL, streaming, message queues, caching, vector storage)
Experience integrating AI/ML systems into production environments
Hands-on experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure) and container orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes)
Strong coding proficiency in one or more of: Go, Python, Rust, Java
Ability to operate independently, lead through influence, and communicate clearly with both technical and non-technical stakeholders

Nice To Haves

Experience building SaaS platforms, networking systems, storage systems, or data-intensive infrastructure
Experience designing AI-powered systems (LLMs, RAG pipelines, data processing platforms)
Experience leading multi-team or multi-year architecture programs
Contributions to open-source projects or technical thought leadership

Responsibilities

Define and drive end-to-end architecture for large-scale backend and cloud-native systems
Lead design and development of distributed systems supporting high availability, scalability, and performance
Shape technical strategy in areas such as AI/ML integration, data platforms, observability, and automation
Evaluate and introduce emerging technologies (e.g., LLMs, vector databases, agent frameworks, cloud-native patterns) where appropriate
Make sound engineering trade-offs balancing speed, quality, cost, and maintainability
Drive system-level performance optimization, reliability engineering, and operational excellence
Lead complex cross-team initiatives and influence engineering direction beyond immediate team boundaries
Establish technical standards, review architecture, and ensure long-term platform sustainability
Mentor senior engineers and elevate overall engineering quality
Proactively identify risks and remove structural bottlenecks in delivery