Principal Software Engineer

Solera•Westlake, OH

57d

About The Position

We're looking for a pragmatic, hands-on Lead Software Engineer who gets things done. You'll spend significant time writing code while helping elevate the technical skills of the broader team. This role is ideal for someone who thrives on modernizing legacy systems, champions emerging technologies and development practices, leverages AI-assisted development tools to accelerate delivery, and excels at building centralized platform services that serve multiple web and mobile applications. You'll balance individual contribution with technical leadership, helping less experienced engineers grow their craft through practical guidance and code review in an Agile environment. WHAT YOU'LL DO Build and Ship Act as an individual contributor, writing production code daily Design and develop cloud-native applications using Spring Boot and Spring Cloud Build scalable microservices architecture serving multiple host-side and mobile applications Modernize legacy systems and migrate outdated tech stacks to current platforms Leverage AI-powered development tools (GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude, etc.) to accelerate feature development Create robust, scalable solutions with emphasis on maintainability, security, and performance Champion and integrate new technologies and development practices that solve real business problems Lead Through Example Provide technical leadership and guidance to multiple software engineers Mentor developers through pairing sessions, code reviews, and practical guidance Lead technical decision-making while actively contributing to the codebase Guide team members through technical challenges Introduce and evangelize modern development practices Share best practices for AI-assisted development and cutting-edge tooling Foster team collaboration and a culture of continuous learning Technical Execution & Strategy Partner with product, QA, and technical teams for test strategy and release planning Diagnose and resolve performance and stability issues Proactively monitor, identify, and escalate systemic issues Document and communicate technical specifications to diverse audiences Make and defend architectural decisions Implement observability, monitoring, and logging best practices Work with container orchestration platforms (Kubernetes preferred)

Requirements

10+ years of professional backend development experience
2+ years in a technical leadership position
Proven track record of building cloud-native applications and centralized platforms
Strong experience modernizing legacy systems and introducing new technology stacks
History of leading technical teams through complex projects
Experience with AI-assisted development tools and workflows
Track record of mentoring and growing technical talent
Willingness to maintain hands-on technical involvement
Expert-level proficiency in Spring Boot and Spring Cloud
Strong experience with microservices architecture patterns
Deep understanding of distributed systems concepts and challenges
Hands-on experience with container orchestration (Kubernetes preferred)
Proficiency with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP)
Experience building APIs and services that serve web and mobile applications
Strong background in both relational and NoSQL databases
Knowledge of service-oriented and event-driven design patterns
Designing scalable, maintainable, and secure systems
Building centralized platform services for multiple client applications
API design and versioning strategies
Authentication and authorization at scale
Performance optimization and tuning
Cross-platform compatibility
Understanding of observability, monitoring, and logging best practices
Experience with agile development practices
CI/CD pipeline design and implementation
Infrastructure as Code
Automated testing strategies
Monitoring and observability tools
Feature flags and progressive delivery
Track record of researching and vetting new technologies
Ability to champion and successfully implement new development practices
Experience evaluating and integrating emerging technologies
Understanding of technology trends and their business applications
Ability to balance innovation with pragmatic delivery
Strong communication skills with both technical and non-technical stakeholders
Ability to mentor developers and provide technical guidance
Track record of making architectural decisions and defending technical choices
Ability to influence and drive adoption of new practices across teams
Collaborative mindset with genuine interest in helping others grow
Bias toward action and shipping working solutions
Strong problem-solving and debugging skills
Ability to manage multiple priorities and deliver results
Comfortable challenging the status quo constructively
Ability to translate business requirements into technical solutions

Nice To Haves

Experience with message queuing and event streaming (Kafka, RabbitMQ)
Familiarity with service mesh architectures
Knowledge of GraphQL or gRPC in addition to REST
Experience with serverless architectures
Understanding of distributed tracing and APM tools
Background in platform economics and cost optimization
Experience with chaos engineering and resilience testing
Knowledge of compliance frameworks (SOC2, GDPR, HIPAA)
Experience with mobile backend development

Responsibilities

Act as an individual contributor, writing production code daily
Design and develop cloud-native applications using Spring Boot and Spring Cloud
Build scalable microservices architecture serving multiple host-side and mobile applications
Modernize legacy systems and migrate outdated tech stacks to current platforms
Leverage AI-powered development tools (GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude, etc.) to accelerate feature development
Create robust, scalable solutions with emphasis on maintainability, security, and performance
Champion and integrate new technologies and development practices that solve real business problems
Provide technical leadership and guidance to multiple software engineers
Mentor developers through pairing sessions, code reviews, and practical guidance
Lead technical decision-making while actively contributing to the codebase
Guide team members through technical challenges
Introduce and evangelize modern development practices
Share best practices for AI-assisted development and cutting-edge tooling
Foster team collaboration and a culture of continuous learning
Partner with product, QA, and technical teams for test strategy and release planning
Diagnose and resolve performance and stability issues
Proactively monitor, identify, and escalate systemic issues
Document and communicate technical specifications to diverse audiences
Make and defend architectural decisions
Implement observability, monitoring, and logging best practices
Work with container orchestration platforms (Kubernetes preferred)