Principal Software Engineer

Job Title: Principal Software EngineerLocation: Remote (U.S.)Employment Type: Contract (W2 through ZipStaff - No C2C or 1099)About the OpportunityZipStaff is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to lead design and delivery of scalable microservices for a leading healthcare analytics organization.This is a hands-on technical leadership role. You will architect Java / Spring Boot services, optimize high-throughput SQL workloads, own Kafka event-streaming pipelines, and mentor a team of 4-8 engineers. Candidates who cannot lead delivery and contribute production code will not be a fit.What You'll DoLead the design and delivery of scalable microservices using Java and Spring Boot, with clean separation of concerns and resilience.Design and optimize MS SQL schemas, stored procedures, and queries for high-throughput transactional workloads.Architect and maintain Kafka-based event-streaming pipelines for real-time processing and decoupled service communication.Collaborate with UX and product teams on responsive, accessible front-end interfaces integrated with back-end APIs.Conduct code reviews, define coding standards, and drive engineering best practices.Mentor and coach 4-8 engineers; run 1:1s, support career growth, and remove technical blockers.Partner with product managers and architects to translate business requirements into technical roadmaps.Champion observability, security, and CI/CD across the platform.Screen candidates, run technical interviews, and help build the team.Required Qualifications10+ years of hands-on software engineering experience delivering production systems at scale.Deep expertise in Java (11+) and the Spring ecosystem (Spring Boot, Spring Cloud, Spring Security, Spring Data).Strong MS SQL skills - indexing, execution plans, normalization, and T-SQL.Proven experience building and operating Kafka pipelines in a distributed microservices environment.Solid front-end proficiency in at least one modern framework (React, Angular, or VueDemonstrated leadership: led a team of engineers, owned delivery milestones, and influenced architecture.Comfortable in Agile / Scrum environments; experience facilitating sprint ceremonies.Strong communication skills with technical and non-technical stakeholders. Take Ownership, conflict/consensus, elevate solutions, bridge to business.Must be legally authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship now or in the future.Preferred QualificationsExperience with Docker, Kubernetes, and cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP).Healthcare analytics, claims, or other regulated data-platform background.Proven hiring / interview experience on an engineering team.About ZipStaffZipStaff partners with leading organizations to connect skilled technology professionals with high-impact contract opportunities. We focus on quality matches and long-term success.J-18808-Ljbffr