Principal Software Engineer

Principal Software EngineerAt Fullbay, our mission is simple — to create safer roads for our families and yours. As leaders in the heavy-duty repair industry, we power shops with technology that helps them run smarter and more efficiently. As an AI-First company, we invite artificial intelligence to eliminate friction, spark innovation, and drive efficiencies in every conversation—for our teams and our customers.The Principal Software Engineer is a force-multiplier and technical leader who drives innovation, establishes best practices, and solves complex problems across Fullbay's SaaS platform helping independent mechanics manage their businesses. You'll combine exceptional technical depth with the breadth of experience needed to tackle any challenge—from architecting scalable distributed systems to mentoring engineers and influencing organizational strategy. This role requires someone who can quickly prototype solutions, deliver proof-of-concepts with new technologies, and turn big ideas into reality while maintaining production excellence.You'll work as part of the Principal Engineers team—a unified group that coordinates cross-domain architectural decisions, establishes technical standards, and provides strategic guidance across the organization. While you'll be assigned to specific domain teams, your primary responsibility is organizational impact, not embedding in day-to-day execution.You're not just technically excellent—you're a teacher, mentor, and role model who helps elevate the team's capabilities. You have deep product knowledge and can effectively troubleshoot complex issues. When uncertain, you know how to debug systematically to get to the root cause. You're comfortable with greenfield projects and navigating ambiguity. You think strategically about long-term architecture while maintaining focus on delivering practical business value. You can communicate effectively with different audiences—adjusting your message for leadership, peers, and junior engineers. You stay current with industry practices and thoughtfully evaluate how new techniques could improve our products. You demonstrate ownership of production systems, taking responsibility for outcomes and fostering a culture focused on learning and improvement. You're willing to drive consensus through ADRs and documentation rather than dictating solutions.Primary Duties & ResponsibilitiesTechnical Leadership & InnovationDesign and implement complex, high-impact features that significantly increase business value and advance Fullbay's capabilitiesDrive architectural decisions that simplify implementations, improve performance, and establish patterns for the entire engineering organizationInvestigate and evaluate new technologies, establish the technical platform, and define the stackQuickly prototype solutions and deliver proof-of-concepts that turn speculative ideas into concrete implementationsOwn production excellence—proactively identify issues, establish monitoring standards, and drive performance, scale, and availability goalsCross-Organizational ImpactWork with principal engineers as a unified team to coordinate on technical initiatives spanning multiple domainsEstablish and promote best practices for software development, including coding standards, system design patterns, and integration approachesLead Architecture Decision Record (ADR) processes and ensure alignment on technical standardsServe as technical advisor to senior leadership—communicate development goals, progress, and strategic directionCollaborate with the dev lead to define entry/exit criteria for how Product, QA, and Development teams work together, including checkpoints and release cadenceMentorship & Team DevelopmentTrain engineers across the organization on modern programming practices, platform capabilities, and effective use of toolsMentor other engineers through code reviews, pairing sessions, and formal trainingEstablish code review standards, branching strategies, and software development methodologiesServe as the "go-to" expert for complex technical challenges across multiple teamsBuild trust and rapport with fellow principal engineers to amplify collective impactPlatform & Process ExcellenceWork with the Internal Developer Platform to improve developer experience and productivityEstablish metrics and standards for performance, scale, and availabilityEvaluate and integrate third-party technologies to enhance the Fullbay stackDefine processes and frameworks for how engineering work happens across the organizationContribute to FinOps initiatives and AWS cost optimization strategiesWork with 3d party applications and companies to add to our Fullbay stack for best resultsAdheres to all confidentiality and compliance regulations.Performs other duties as assigned.Our Technical EnvironmentFrontend: TypeScript, React (modern patterns with hooks), Module Federation for micro-frontendsBackend: Java (Quarkus, SnapStart optimization), Node.js/TypeScript, GoAWS Services: Lambda (with Lambda resolvers for AppSync), Fargate, AppSync (GraphQL APIs with VTL and JavaScript resolvers), DynamoDB, EventBridge, Step Functions, API Gateway, CloudFront, WAFArchitecture: Microservices, event-driven systems, serverless-first approachTools: GitHub Enterprise, Terraform for Infrastructure as Code, AI-enhanced development (Claude Code)Minimum Education & Work Experience:10-15 years of experience in software design and developmentBachelor's degree in Computer Science or equivalent experienceProven ability to design and implement scalable, distributed systemsStrong communication skills with ability to influence technical decisions across the organizationExperience working collaboratively with Product Management and QA teamsKey Skills and Qualifications:Modern Software Design and Coding methodologiesDevelopment and Design best practices based on experience and knowledge ofWork with modern industry 3rd party technologies and ability to compare and contrast and help make great buying decisions (or build decisions)Knowledge and experience with Product Management and Test methodologiesCreate the process and frameworks for how development will happen in EngineeringAbility to form-factor messages and communication to Leadership vs peers vs software engineersKnowledge and experience with improving Performance, Scale and Availability of software and modern capabilities like processor, caching and backend accelerators of performancePhysical 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 job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.Regularly required to sit at a desk in front of a computer and use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls (including a computer keyboard and operating a telephone), lift and/or move up to 10 pounds.Frequently requires the use of hands and arms for reaching, as well as the ability to walk and communicate effectively through speaking and listening.Specific vision abilities required by this position include close vision, color vision, and the ability to adjust focus.Noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.Type on a computer keyboard and look at a computer monitor, and operate a cell phone or a computer-based phone.