Principal Software Engineer

Hi Marley • Boston, MA

54d • $114,200 - $267,800 • Hybrid

About The Position

Insurance touches people during some of the most challenging moments in their lives. Hi Marley is on a mission to transform how the P&C industry communicates, making those moments faster, easier, and more empathetic for carriers and the customers they serve. We build AI-powered software that keeps everyone in the claims conversation informed and connected. If you believe insurance can combine operational excellence and automation with a human touch, we’d love to meet you. We're looking for a Principal Software Engineer, a person trusted with our hardest, highest- leverage technical problems. This is a dual-mandate role: you are both a multiplier for the team who raises the ceiling for engineers across the org, and a high-leverage builder who still Ships. You'll go wherever the most important work is, from complex re-architectures of existing systems, to building ambitious new capabilities, to strengthening the foundations the whole team builds on. A lot of that is AI right now: the agent-driven experiences at the core of what we build, in a regulated insurance environment where carrier trust and compliance shape every decision. Teamwork and shared enthusiasm are a core part of our culture, which is why this role involves joining us in the Boston office 2–3 days each week.

Requirements

• Typically 10+ years of software development experience; high-performing candidates with less experience are encouraged to apply.
• A track record of delivering large, complex systems to production at scale — defining the patterns and architecture for one or more domains, influencing technical direction across teams, and earning trust as an advisor across engineering.
• You identify the problems worth solving and shape and execute the work.
• Experience designing distributed architectures, ideally in the AWS ecosystem, with a strong command of principles like separation of concerns, scalability, loose coupling, and designing for failure.
• Fluency with modern AI-assisted development and with designing systems where AI and agents are first-class architectural components — not just a tool user, but someone who reasons about agent design, orchestration, configurability, and guardrails, and who rigorously reviews and verifies AI-generated work to keep the quality bar high.
• Sound judgment about building AI products responsibly in a high-trust, regulated environment, where speed is bounded by carrier trust and compliance.
• Experience with relational and document-oriented databases, including performance tuning and scaling.
• Proficiency in Node.js, TypeScript, and frontend frameworks such as React; fluency with automated testing, CI/CD, and modern code-management practices.
• A multiplier effect on those around you — the engineers and systems near you get measurably better because of how you work and mentor.
• The ability to influence without authority, build consensus, and communicate complex issues simply to any audience — from engineers to executives.
• A passion for clean code and sound design, pragmatic decision-making, and continually improving both the code and the way we work.
• At this time, we are only able to consider candidates who are currently authorized to work in the U.S. and will not require sponsorship now or in the future.

Responsibilities

• Set technical direction across domains. Define the patterns and architecture for multiple systems, make high-stakes trade-off decisions, and communicate them clearly to engineers, product, and executives.
• Work at the right altitude. Move flexibly between embedding deeply with a single team when an initiative needs your hands and operating horizontally across teams to set direction and unblock, exercising judgment and advocating for what the moment calls for.
• Technically lead complex initiatives end-to-end. Drive multi-team, long-horizon work from architecture through delivery and operational excellence, owning reliability, scale, and security of mission-critical systems.
• Ship as a high-leverage producer. Use modern AI development tools (e.g., Claude Code, Cursor, Codex) to design, prototype, and deliver real systems yourself — modeling how to build with AI at a high bar for quality, testing, and rigor.
• Raise the bar on how we build with AI. Help engineer the practices, guardrails, and review discipline of our AI-enabled development lifecycle — so we can scale AI adoption safely, with quality improving as we go, as a regulated environment demands.
• Multiply the team. Mentor and coach engineers, set the standard for quality and design, and help the people around you get better at their craft.
• Be a trusted advisor. Serve as a go-to technical voice across engineering, and a steady, consensus-building presence when teams are stuck or the path isn't clear.
• Represent Hi Marley. Be recognized as a technical leader internally and externally, and help attract and grow great engineers.

Benefits

• Equity grants for all employees
• A 4% matching 401(k) program
• Medical, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance coverage for employees working 30+ hours per week
• Monthly wellness stipend
• Paid parental leave
• A flexible vacation policy - we all work hard and take time when we need it

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal
• Education Level: No Education Listed