Principal Software Engineer - VC Backed Startups

Department: EPD

Location: Bay Area - Hybrid

Compensation: $170K – $270K • Offers Equity

Employment Type: FullTime

Join SignalFire’s Talent Network for Principal Software Engineer Roles at VC-Backed Startups

🛑 This is not an application for a specific job. Instead, this is a way to get on the radar of VC-backed startups that are actively hiring Engineering talent. If you have any questions, please direct inquiries to talentnetwork@signalfire.com.

At SignalFire, we partner with top early-stage startups that are shaping the future of technology. Our portfolio spans 200+ innovative companies across AI, cybersecurity, healthtech, fintech, developer tools, and enterprise SaaS.

We’re looking to connect with exceptional Principal Front-End, Back-End, and Full Stack Engineers who are excited about driving technical strategy, shaping architecture, and building scalable full stack applications at high-growth startups. By joining SignalFire’s Talent Network, your profile will be shared with our portfolio companies, giving you visibility into exclusive early-stage opportunities that may not be publicly listed.

Who Should Join?

We’re looking for engineers who are:
✔ Passionate about architecting scalable, high-performance full stack applications
✔ Excited to lead technical decision-making and mentor engineering teams
✔ Experienced in designing end-to-end systems, from modern front-end UIs to robust back-end services

Typical Roles & Responsibilities

• Define and drive technical architecture, best practices, and full stack development strategy

• Design, build, and maintain scalable, high-performance applications across the front-end and back-end

• Develop APIs, microservices, and cloud-native solutions to support large-scale applications

• Optimize performance, security, and reliability across the application stack

• Work closely with founders, product managers, and engineering teams to align business and technology goals

• Establish and lead code review, testing, and deployment best practices

• Mentor and guide senior engineers, fostering a strong engineering culture

Common Qualifications

While each startup has its own hiring criteria, many principal full stack engineering roles in our network look for:

• 8+ years of experience in full stack development, with a strong record of technical leadership

• Expertise in front-end frameworks (React, Angular, Vue.js, Svelte) and back-end frameworks (Node.js, Django, Flask, Ruby on Rails, FastAPI)

• Strong experience with databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, DynamoDB, Redis)

• Proficiency in cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure) and containerization tools (Docker, Kubernetes)

• Experience with distributed systems, high-availability architectures, and event-driven designs

• Proficiency in JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Ruby, Go, or Java

• Strong background in CI/CD, DevOps, and infrastructure-as-code tools

• Experience in mentoring engineers and leading large-scale technical projects

💡 Technologies You Might Work With:

• Languages & Frameworks: JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Ruby, Golang, Java, React, Angular, Vue.js, Svelte, Node.js, Django, Flask, Ruby on Rails, FastAPI

• Databases: PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, DynamoDB, Redis

• Cloud & DevOps: AWS (Lambda, EC2, S3, RDS), GCP (App Engine, Firestore), Azure, Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform, Jenkins, GitHub Actions

• Other Tools: GraphQL, REST APIs, WebSockets, Kafka, RabbitMQ, Elasticsearch

What Happens Next?

1. Submit your application to join SignalFire’s Talent Ecosystem.

2. We review applications on an ongoing basis to identify strong candidates.

3. If there’s a match, a SignalFire talent partner or a leader from one of our startups may reach out directly.

4. No match yet? We’ll keep your profile on file for future full stack engineering roles in our portfolio.