Description
Senior Principal Software Engineer
Location: Remote
Department: Technology (CAD)
Location Type: REMOTE
Employment Type: FULL_TIME
About Nerdery and Being a “Nerd.”
Nerdery is a digital product consultancy. Much more than consultants, we’re allies and guides on our clients’ digital journey – helping them to grow their business and delight their customers through intuitive, thoughtfully designed technology. As true partners, we prepare our clients for the opportunities in front of them, help them achieve their goals, and quickly deliver value for their customers. We do this by solving problems in creative ways across strategy, design, and technology.
At Nerdery, we’re not defined by our job titles but by the impact we make. You’ll work directly and closely with some of the world’s best brands to help create innovative digital products that serve everyone. As Nerds, our insight, innovation, and expertise are celebrated, and our growth is not only encouraged but expected. Being a Nerd means stepping up and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.
We are looking for a Senior Principal Software Engineer to join our team! We invite you to check out the details below and consider whether becoming a Nerd is the next step in your career journey.
The Senior Principal Software Engineer acts as a strategic bridge between complex business problems and technical implementation. In this high-impact individual contributor role, you will serve as the Technology Team Lead for enterprise-scale engagements, guiding polyglot engineering teams by mentoring engineers, ensuring code quality, and fostering professional growth in order to deliver on-time and on-budget solutions.
You are not just a coder, but a consultant-first technologist. You thrive in front of clients, capable of leading high-stakes discovery workshops, whiteboarding complex architectures live with stakeholders, and translating vague business needs into concrete technical roadmaps. You possess the breadth to architect distributed systems. You will be instrumental in the pre-sales process, helping clients visualize the technical possibilities while ensuring the eventual delivery adheres to rigorous engineering best practices. Additionally, you bring a forward-thinking approach to developer tooling, demonstrating confidence with AI coding assistants and helping to define best practices for their effective use.
Requirements:
- Undergraduate or graduate degree in a computer-related field or coding bootcamp certificate and/or equivalent progressive years of experience.
- 12+ years of professional software development experience.
- 6+ years of experience in software architecture and technical leadership.
- Proven track record in a consultancy environment, specifically in client-facing roles involving pre-sales, discovery, and workshop facilitation.
- Deep, hands-on experience with custom application development within one of the major cloud providers (Azure, GCP, AWS) including compute, storage, networking, data management, and gateway products.
- Expert-level command of a primary modern programming language and its supporting ecosystem (e.g. C#/.NET, Python, TypeScript/Node, etc) for building scalable cloud applications.
- Strong proficiency with Terraform for cross-cloud portability and infrastructure provisioning.
- Demonstrated ability to architect and lead teams building distributed applications, with a strong understanding of modern cloud application components and consumers, such as API services, data pipelines, mobile UI, and headless Web UIs, in order to guide component specific subject-matter experts.
- Demonstrated comprehension of complex software using expert-level understanding of code patterns, application architecture, and best practices.
- Experience with version control systems such as Git and experience with modern version control methodologies such as Git Flow and Trunk Based Development.
- Demonstrated expertise in using and implementing CI/CD pipelines in modern DevOps platforms (e.g. GitHub, GitLab, Azure DevOps, ).
- Ability to design and optimize CI/CD pipelines for various applications, including web applications, microservices, and data pipelines
- Exceptional verbal and visual technical communication skills and additional the ability to explain complex technical problems to diverse audiences.
- Strong systems architecture experience
- Measurable improvement of your developments team’s quality and effectiveness
- In-depth understanding of the software development process and the ability to maintain an iterative approach throughout the project lifecycle.
- Advocate for the proper usage of AI tools to increase delivery efficiency .
- Must hold at least one active certificate of at least associate/core level for a major cloud provider (e.g. Azure Developer Associate, AWS Developer).
Preferred Qualifications
- Hold an active professional/expert certification (e.g. Azure Solutions Architect Expert, AWS Solution Architect Professional).
- Hands-on experience deploying on-prem or PaaS/IaaS/SaaS based solutions..
- Specific experience modernizing legacy systems into modern, cloud centric solutions.
- Previous formal role as a Sales Engineer or Solutions Consultant.
- Proven ability to design and manage an enterprise architecture governance process.
- Execution of multiple data migration and analytics projects
- A Master's or PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field
What You'll Do:
Consultancy & Client Stewardship
- Facilitate workshops and whiteboarding sessions with C-level executives, client Technical teams, and non-technical stakeholders to uncover root problems and define solution scope.
- Translate complex architectural decisions into business value propositions (e.g., Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) calculations, ROI on modernization).
- Act as the primary technical advisor to the client, building trust, managing expectations, and guiding them through technical trade-offs between "buy vs. build" and PaaS vs. IaaS options.
Pre-Sales & Solution Architecture
- Drive the technical portion of sales pursuits, quickly assessing client problem spaces to propose viable, scalable architectures.
- Define comprehensive solution architectures using documented Architecture Decision Records (ADRs). Evaluate and prescribe the right mix of cloud-native, PaaS, and SaaS solutions based on client maturity.
- Provide rigorous analysis on scaling strategies and cloud cost estimation to ensure proposed solutions are financially viable for the client.
Delivery & Team Leadership
- Lead cross-functional teams (Backend, Frontend, DevOps) to high efficacy. While you may not write every line of code, you must provide architectural guardrails and code-review guidance for distributed applications.
- Enforce engineering rigor from code to cloud. Ensure on-time, on-budget delivery by implementing best-in-class DevOps practices of IaC, trunk based development, and CI/CD that runs on every merge.
- Act as the technical anchor for code development, writing core logic, setting up baseline patterns for application runtimes, and unblocking the team on complex integration challenges.
Mentorship & Practice Growth
- Elevate the skills of Senior and Principal engineers, teaching them not just how to code, but why specific architectural patterns matter.
- Contribute to Nerdery’s internal knowledge base by documenting patterns for implementations and leading internal show and tell sessions on modern application development.
- Contribute to the continuous adoption and innovation of Nerdery’s technology group, including the adoption of emerging technologies (specifically AI and LLMs) for software solutions and the software development lifecycle.
- Be a representative and advocate of Nerdery’s depth of talent by regularly publishing articles, blog posts, or whitepapers, and/or contributing to open source projects, and/or speaking at industry conferences to share knowledge, insights, and best practices in software and technology.
Pay Range:
- $160,200 - $193,800
The pay range provided reflects the target compensation for this position, and individual pay within this range is determined by a variety of factors including, but not limited to, the candidate's relevant experience, specific skills, education, certifications, internal equity with comparable roles at our company, market conditions, and the geographic location of the role. We are committed to fair and equitable compensation practices, and we regularly review our pay structures to ensure competitiveness and alignment with industry standards.
Our Benefits & Perks:
We believe in supporting our Nerds with a truly comprehensive and competitive benefits package designed for flexibility and financial security.
- Health & Wellness: Choose from two comprehensive medical plans (including an HSA-eligible option), plus high-quality dental and vision insurance.
- Financial Security (Company-Paid): We provide peace of mind by fully covering the cost of several essential plans: Basic Life and AD&D Insurance, Short-Term Disability (STD), and Long-Term Disability (LTD) coverage.
- Comprehensive Support: Take advantage of discounted, employee-paid options to protect your family, pets, and assets, including Voluntary Life and AD&D, Accident, Critical Illness, and Hospital Indemnity insurance, Pet Insurance, and plans offering Legal Support and Identity Theft Protection.
- Retirement: We offer a 401(k) plan with a company match of up to 3.5% with immediate vesting.
- Time Off: Nerds enjoy flexible time off with Flex PTO that can be used for vacation, personal time, personal illness, or time off to care for dependents.
- Remote Work: Nerdery is a remote-friendly workplace. Our Minnesota office space is available for Nerds who prefer an in-office environment or collaborative setting.
- Professional Growth: All Nerds have dedicated resources and access to funds to pursue professional development, attend industry conferences, and obtain certifications.
What Skills Will Help You Be A Successful Nerd?
- Customer-Focused Execution and Communication: Excels at translating deep customer understanding into impactful work, ensuring that every project and decision delivers exceptional user value. Able to effectively explain technical decisions to non-technical stakeholders.
- Tenacious Problem-Solving: Relentlessly unravels complex problems, developing innovative solutions to overcome any challenge that stands in the way of progress.
- Integrity-Driven Work: Builds trust by consistently upholding high standards in all work and advocating for the right approach, ensuring quality and transparency.
- Collaborative Impact: Actively elevates the team's capabilities by fostering a collaborative environment, sharing knowledge, and prioritizing collective success over individual credit.
- End-to-End Ownership: Takes full accountability for an initiative's entire lifecycle, from concept to completion, ensuring the final result successfully achieves its intended goals.
- Dedication to Craftsmanship: Driven by a passion for their craft to continuously learn, deepen their expertise, and strive for excellence in their chosen field.
Physical Demands and Work Environment
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable Accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions
- Sitting for extended periods: will spend significant time in meetings, presentations, and computer use.
- Occasional standing and walking: will need to move around during presentations and client interactions.
- Computer Use: Extensive use of a keyboard, mouse, and computer screen for extended periods. Ability to adjust focus between screen and documents.
- Public Speaking: requires public speaking, including presenting to clients.
- Reaching: Reaching for items on a desk, retrieving documents, or working with equipment is required.
- Lifting: Occasional lifting of light objects (e.g., laptops, peripherals) may be necessary.
- Office Environment: The work environment is primarily an office setting, with typical office equipment and noise levels.
- On-site client work: some work might involve on-site client visits and demonstrations, possibly requiring some walking and standing for extended periods.
Are We the Right Fit For You?
The best way to get the scoop on whether Nerdery is the right place for you is to chat with current Nerds. We would be delighted to have a conversation with you and share insight into what it’s really like to work at our organization and if it’s a place where you can thrive. Our interview process will provide you ample opportunity to talk with other team members and assess whether the role is a good fit for your next chapter. Take the first step and apply today – our Talent Advocates will then reach out to you to get the ball rolling!
Disclaimer:
Must be legally authorized to work within the country of employment without sponsorship for employment visa status.
Nerdery is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable federal, state and local fair employment practice laws. Nerdery strictly prohibits and does not tolerate discrimination against employees, applicants or any other covered persons because of race, color, religion, creed, national origin or ancestry, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, gender (including gender nonconformity and status as a transgender or transsexual individual), pregnancy, marital status, familial status, age, physical or mental disability, citizenship, past, current or prospective service in the uniformed services, genetic information, membership or activity in a local human rights commission, status with regard to public assistance or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state or local law. All employees, other workers and representatives of Nerdery are prohibited from engaging in unlawful discrimination. Nerdery will ensure that all employment practices are free of such discrimination. Such employment practices include, but are not limited to: hiring, promotion, demotion, transfer, recruitment or recruitment advertising, selection, layoff, disciplinary action, termination, compensation, benefits, selection for training, including apprenticeship and other terms and conditions of employment. Nerdery will also provide reasonable accommodation to applicants and employees with disabilities pursuant to all applicable laws.
Nerdery will never request a chat interview. All interviews are conducted either in person or through Google Meets. Additionally, Nerdery exclusively uses email addresses ending with @Nerdery.com
If you have questions about any correspondence you receive regarding an opportunity at Nerdery, please reach out to [email protected].
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