Sr Software Engineer I (Formal Leadership)
About The Position
At Principal, we’re building reliable, secure, and scalable technology that supports millions of customers worldwide. As Sr Software Engineer I, you will be the primary leader for engineers shaping our onboarding tools and onboarding experiences for our customers! You’ll drive technical direction, develop team culture, and own domain outcomes while cultivating an environment of innovation and engineering excellence. As a formal leader, success in this role comes from strong leadership aptitude, sound technical judgment, and the ability to make confident decisions. Operating at the intersection of financial services and technology, Principal builds financial tools that help our customers live better lives. We take pride in being a purpose-led firm, motivated by our mission to make financial security accessible to all. Our mission, integrity, and customer focus have made us a trusted leader for more than 140 years.
Requirements
- Associate’s or bachelor’s degree (preference in computer science, technology, engineering or math-related field) or equivalent experience
- 6+ years of relevant IT experience
- Experience leading people in a formal capacity (e.g., managing a small team, acting as a tech lead or domain lead with direct reports)
- Experience conducting 1:1s, giving feedback, supporting performance and growth
- Strong technical judgment and ability to guide technical decisions
- Comfort owning decisions and partnering with Product and peers
- Ability to operate with incomplete information and make tradeoffs
- Strong problem-solving and analytical skills
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
- Adaptable and able to learn from experiences
- Actively seeks coaching and feedback for personal growth
Nice To Haves
- Track record of building team culture
- Background in system integration and API design
- Experience with AWS, Typescript, GraphQL, and/or Salesforce
- Strategic approach and change management experience
- Experience with migration from legacy implementations to cloud solutions
- Strong stakeholder management skills
Responsibilities
- Be the primary leader for engineers shaping our onboarding tools and onboarding experiences for our customers!
- Drive technical direction, develop team culture, and own domain outcomes while cultivating an environment of innovation and engineering excellence.
- Lead and develop engineers through mentoring, goal setting, performance feedback, and career development.
- Cultivate a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
- Stay up to date on industry trends, emerging technologies, and modern engineering practices and research, evaluate, and influence adoption of new tools, platforms, and technologies.
- Provide technical guidance and input on decisions affecting other teams and the broader enterprise.
- Clearly communicate complex technical concepts to business partners and translate business strategy into technical direction.
- Build alignment and buy‑in across engineering, product, and business stakeholders.
- Influence end‑to‑end solution design, spanning all layers of software development and multiple systems.
- Apply design thinking to create scalable, resilient architectures that balance technical, analytical, and product needs.
- Identify systemic technical challenges, propose forward‑looking strategies, and drive alignment on standards and solutions.
Benefits
- Flexible Time Off (FTO) is provided to salaried (exempt) employees and provides the opportunity to take time away from the office with pay for vacation, personal or short-term illness.
- Employees don’t accrue a bank of time off under FTO and there is no set number of days provided.
- Pension Eligible
- Comprehensive, competitive benefit offerings crafted to protect their physical, financial, and social well-being.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
Associate degree
