Principal Software Engineer

Cars Commerce

Principal Software Engineer shaping the future of Automotive Commerce at Cars Commerce. Defining service evolution and integrating LLM-based orchestration into development workflow.

Posted 6/8/2026full-timeRemote • 🇺🇸 United StatesLead💰 $175,800 - $219,750 per yearWebsite

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

Distributed SystemsJavaScriptKafkaNode.jsSDLCTypeScript

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Define the evolution of our services to support sub-second latency and massive concurrency
Bridge the gap between heavy-lift backend systems and modern, intuitive UI products
Redefine the SDLC by integrating LLM-based orchestration into the development workflow
Lead the RFC process driving consensus across engineering and product boundaries
Own the "Four Nines" (99.99%) for services handling tens of thousands of requests per second
Act as a sponsor for Staff and Senior engineers, raising the technical "ceiling" of the entire engineering organization

Requirements

What you’ll need

Bachelor’s degree or higher in Computer Science or equivalent industry experience
12+ years of software engineering excellence, including significant time at the Staff or Principal level
Deep expertise in designing high-concurrency distributed systems
Comfortable navigating complex data-consistency models, event-driven architectures (Kafka/MSK), and optimizing for sub-second latency
Architect extensible frontend platforms, designing robust State Management strategies
Expert in TypeScript/Node.js, but language-agnostic
Proven ability to drive consensus in complex environments using data—not just opinion
Track record of evaluating emerging technologies and running proof-of-concepts that modernize tech stack without disrupting production stability

Benefits

Comp & perks

Medical, Dental & Vision Healthcare Plans
New Hire Stipend for Home Office Set-Up
Generous PTO
Paid Holidays, Floating Holiday, Volunteer Day, Recharge Day

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills & Tools

software engineeringhigh-concurrency distributed systemsdata-consistency modelsevent-driven architecturesTypeScriptNode.jsState Management strategiesLLM-based orchestrationproof-of-conceptssub-second latency optimization

Soft Skills

leadershipconsensus buildingtechnical mentorshipcommunicationorganizational skillsproblem-solvingcollaborationadaptabilitycritical thinkingevaluating emerging technologies

Certifications

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Scienceequivalent industry experience