Principal Software Engineer (Remote Eligible in Bulgaria)

As a global leader in Collaborative Work Management and with a market cap of $10bn we’ve experienced incredible growth in EMEA, expanding from one team and three engineers in 2018 to five teams with over 50 engineers by 2023. As we expand into Bulgaria and build out a new operation, we're searching for talented and motivated Principal Software Engineers who are passionate about continuous learning and eager to grow along with us in a fast-paced, innovative environment. This position will be employed through a third-party employer of record initially, with the intention to convert to full time employment directly with Smartsheet once our entity in Bulgaria is established (in H1 2025). You will report to an engineering leader located in Bulgaria.

You Will:

• Lead the design and implementation of Smartsheet’s next-generation architecture, ensuring scalability, security, and performance for millions of global users.
• Define and drive architecture strategy, making key technical decisions that shape the future of the platform.
• Review and guide technical project designs, providing feedback during design review presentations to ensure system resilience and scalability.
• Take ownership of cross-functional technical initiatives, aligning teams around common architectural goals while driving large-scale projects to completion.
• Foster strong technical leadership, mentoring senior engineers and influencing best practices across multiple engineering teams.
• Lead deployment reviews for high-impact projects, ensuring they meet scalability, performance, and security requirements.
• Collaborate closely with product management and other business stakeholders to balance market needs with technical constraints, driving innovation while maintaining technical rigor.
• Advocate for quality and operational excellence, ensuring systems are monitored, tested, and maintained to meet the highest reliability standards.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

You Have:

• Proven experience in system architecture and the design of scalable, high- availability systems across multiple programming languages and frameworks (Python, Go, Java, C/C++, SQL).
• Deep understanding of distributed systems, event-driven architectures, and microservices.
• Strong experience in leading large-scale architectural transformations, with the ability to influence technical direction across multiple teams.
• Expertise in web application development, data structures, and object-oriented design.
• A track record of mentoring senior engineers, leading them through architectural challenges, and ensuring they grow into strong technical leaders.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to convey complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences, including senior executives.
• Experience with cloud architectures and infrastructure at scale, as well as database optimization for performance and scalability.
• Demonstrated ability to work autonomously, driving initiatives forward while aligning with business objectives.
• Familiarity with Agile/Scrum methodologies, driving engineering best practices across teams.