Principal Software Engineer (Hybrid)

CertiPath Inc•Reston, VA

5h•Hybrid

About The Position

Want to energize your career? Looking for stability with the freedom to innovate? At CertiPath you can have both while making the world more secure and simplifying access processes. We are seeking an experienced Principal Software Engineer to design and deliver complex, high-impact systems; mentor senior engineers; and partner closely with product, design, and executive leadership to shape the technical roadmap. Join our team, make a difference, and crush your goals at CertiPath. I’ve never heard of CertiPath. What do you do? We are the experts in software and services for high-assurance digital identity verification and management. We are an established organization with a 21-year track record of delivering on our promises with the drive and entrepreneurial spirit of a start-up. CertiPath is focused on bringing facility and network access management for commercial clients and government agencies into the 21st century. What will the Principal Software Engineer do? You will be a technical leader and individual contributor who sets the bar for engineering excellence across the organization. You’ll design and deliver complex, high-impact systems using Artificial Intelligence; mentor engineers; and partner closely with product, design, and executive leadership to shape the technical roadmap. This is not a people-management role; it’s a deeply technical position for software developers who still love writing code while influencing architecture and strategy at the highest level.

Requirements

U.S. citizenship and the ability to obtain a government clearance
10+ years of progressive professional software engineering experience
At least a bachelor's degree in computer science or a related field (or equivalent experience)
A proven track record of designing and shipping large-scale, highly available applications (C#/Python + Nuxt.js + AWS/GCP, or any modern stack)
Demonstrated experience with one or more frontier AI models and AI-integrated IDEs in the high-level design, rapid interaction, and refinement of complex system-of-systems microservices software for mission-critical use cases.
Proven expertise with relational database design and architecture (MSSQL, Postgres)
Deep expertise in one or more domains: backend systems, infrastructure, data platforms, machine learning infrastructure, high-performance services, etc.
Strong computer science fundamentals (algorithms, data structures, system design)
Experience leading complex technical projects across teams
Excellent communication skills; you can explain complex technical concepts to engineers and non-engineers
A demonstrated ability to balance speed and quality; you ship fast without sacrificing long-term maintainability

Nice To Haves

Experience scaling systems
A background in start-ups or high-growth environments
Experience with development in a Windows environment using .Net, Active Directory, IIS
Hands-on experience implementing applications that use PKI authentication
Experience with Physical Access Control Systems (PACS)
A history of raising the bar at previous companies (e.g., open-source contributions, published technical writing, or conference talks)

Responsibilities

Architect, build, and own large-scale distributed systems, containerized applications, services, and platforms that are reliable, performant, and maintainable.
Lead the most technically challenging and business-critical projects end-to-end.
Define and evolve technical strategy, standards, and best practices across the entire engineering organization.
Drive cross-team initiatives (e.g., performance, reliability, security, and developer productivity).
Mentor and level-up engineers through design reviews, pair programming, and technical guidance.
Collaborate with product and business leaders to translate ambiguous problems into clear technical solutions.
Identify and mitigate technical debt while pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.
Stay ahead of industry trends and bring innovative ideas into the company.