Principal Software Engineer
About The Position
We're looking for an exceptional Principal Software Engineer to serve as the de facto Technical Lead for our Web Data Acquisition (WDA) team - designing and leading the next generation of ZoomInfo's web crawling and data extraction infrastructure. This is a highly visible, hands-on technical leadership role where you'll own the architectural direction for crawling systems, evolve and unify crawling platforms into a best-in-class stack, and elevate a high-performing engineering team. You'll solve complex distributed systems challenges, build modular tooling that accelerates delivery, and set the standard for observability and operational excellence. This is not a people management role. You'll have a dedicated manager handling all HR and administrative responsibilities. A product manager connects business needs with technical work. Your focus is 100% technical leadership, mentorship, and hands-on execution. What You’ll Do Technical Leadership & System Design Proven experience building web crawling or large-scale data systems from scratch Strong architectural skills designing scalable, fault-tolerant distributed systems Track record leading complex technical initiatives and driving architecture direction for teams Demonstrated ability to evolve production systems incrementally while maintaining reliability Data Engineering Expertise Deep background in large-scale data engineering (terabytes daily) Hands-on experience with cloud data warehouses (BigQuery, Snowflake) Experience with Apache Kafka, Kubernetes (GKE/EKS), and orchestration tools (Airflow) Familiarity with multi-cloud environments (GCP + AWS) Expertise designing and operating ETL/ELT pipelines Web Crawling & Data Extraction Deep expertise in web crawling technologies and advanced scraping (Scrapy or similar) Experience extracting structured/unstructured web data and SERP extraction Knowledge of proxy infrastructure management, anti-bot detection, and ethical crawling Familiarity with crawling vendors and AI/LLM-based extraction approaches Leadership & Team Development Experience mentoring engineers at all levels and fostering collaborative culture Strong ability to influence technical direction and establish best practices Track record hiring, coaching, and developing senior engineers Background & Mindset Startup or small company experience wearing multiple hats Comfortable operating in ambiguity and pioneering new capabilities Entrepreneurial mindset with bias toward action and iteration Excellent communicator who explains complex technical concepts to diverse audiences Ideal Candidate Profile 10+ years software engineering experience 5+ years focused on data engineering 3+ years in senior/principal-level technical leadership Strong CS fundamentals (algorithms, data structures, distributed systems) Self-starter who thrives in fast-paced environments B2B data company or data-as-a-product experience a plus Core Technical Stack Python & Java Apache Kafka GCP (BigQuery, GKE, Vertex AI) Snowflake & Starburst/Trino Terraform Scrapy / Web Scraping Frameworks Proxy Management Systems Distributed Systems & Kubernetes Apache Airflow Large-Scale ETL Pipelines Nice to have: Expert-level experience with Apache Spark Why This Role Matters This role sits at the heart of ZoomInfo's data platform. You'll shape the infrastructure that powers our business intelligence products, define long-term technical direction, and leave a lasting impact across the company - while working at massive scale with cutting-edge technologies. You'll be joining at a pivotal moment: the team is growing, the ambition is high, and the opportunity to define how web data acquisition is done at ZoomInfo is yours to shape.
Requirements
- Proven experience building web crawling or large-scale data systems from scratch
- Strong architectural skills designing scalable, fault-tolerant distributed systems
- Track record leading complex technical initiatives and driving architecture direction for teams
- Demonstrated ability to evolve production systems incrementally while maintaining reliability
- Deep background in large-scale data engineering (terabytes daily)
- Hands-on experience with cloud data warehouses (BigQuery, Snowflake)
- Experience with Apache Kafka, Kubernetes (GKE/EKS), and orchestration tools (Airflow)
- Familiarity with multi-cloud environments (GCP + AWS)
- Expertise designing and operating ETL/ELT pipelines
- Deep expertise in web crawling technologies and advanced scraping (Scrapy or similar)
- Experience extracting structured/unstructured web data and SERP extraction
- Knowledge of proxy infrastructure management, anti-bot detection, and ethical crawling
- Familiarity with crawling vendors and AI/LLM-based extraction approaches
- Experience mentoring engineers at all levels and fostering collaborative culture
- Strong ability to influence technical direction and establish best practices
- Track record hiring, coaching, and developing senior engineers
- Startup or small company experience wearing multiple hats
- Comfortable operating in ambiguity and pioneering new capabilities
- Entrepreneurial mindset with bias toward action and iteration
- Excellent communicator who explains complex technical concepts to diverse audiences
- 10+ years software engineering experience
- 5+ years focused on data engineering
- 3+ years in senior/principal-level technical leadership
- Strong CS fundamentals (algorithms, data structures, distributed systems)
- Self-starter who thrives in fast-paced environments
Nice To Haves
- Expert-level experience with Apache Spark
- B2B data company or data-as-a-product experience a plus
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
Education Level
No Education Listed
