Principal Software Engineer – Platform & Services

Caterpillar Inc.

Principal Software Engineer shaping platform and service architecture for global digital manufacturing and supply chain. Leading technical strategy, design, and governance for data-driven applications.

Posted 7/24/2026full-timeChennai • 🇮🇳 IndiaLeadWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

Use this summary to align your resume positioning with the role.

Demonstrates expertise in API Development, Microservices Architecture, and Cloud-Native Solutions, with a strong focus on Security and Observability practices. Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams and drive platform reliability and governance in large-scale distributed systems.

Highest-signal resume keywords

API DevelopmentMicroservices ArchitectureCloud Platforms (AWS/Azure)Event Streaming (Kafka/Event Hubs)Security-First Design (OAuth2/JWT)

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

API DevelopmentMicroservices ArchitectureEvent StreamingCloud PlatformsContainer OrchestrationCI/CDData GovernanceObservability StandardsService Reliability PracticesTechnical Standards

Soft Skills

Excellent CommunicationStakeholder ManagementMentoring

Tools & Technologies

DockerKubernetesAPI GatewaysObservability Stack

Industry Keywords

Platform ArchitectureIntegrationDistributed SystemsData ContractsReal-Time Consumption

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

AWSAzureCloudDistributed SystemsDockerGraphQLGRPCKafkaKubernetesMicroservices

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Own the end‑to‑end platform & services architecture (API/microservices/event‑driven) and align it to product strategy, business outcomes, and enterprise standards
Define domain boundaries, data contracts, and service interaction patterns (REST/gRPC/GraphQL, pub/sub) for real‑time and batch consumption across applications and analytics
Set technical standards for API lifecycle management (versioning, documentation, governance) and drive adoption across teams
Lead design and review of high‑throughput microservices and event‑driven integrations (Kafka/Event Hubs), ensuring reliability, elasticity, and cost efficiency
Champion cloud‑native architectures on AWS/Azure, container orchestration with Docker/Kubernetes , and service reliability practices (SLOs, error budgets, incident response)
Establish observability standards (metrics, logs, traces) and operational readiness, integrating with platform telemetry and dashboards
Enforce API and data security (OAuth2, JWT), role‑based access control, and compliance‑by‑design across services and data products
Drive consistent data governance for platform‑exposed datasets, collaborating with Data Engineering on lineage, quality, and stewardship
Partner with Data Engineering, product, and manufacturing domain experts to align service design with digital‑twin/Omniverse and analytics use cases; ensure performance for low‑latency scenarios (e.g., predictive maintenance, dynamic scheduling)
Mentor Lead/Senior engineers; uplift teams in API design, microservices, DevOps automation , and platform reliability practices
Evaluate and guide tool/vendor choices (API gateways/management, observability stack) and codify best practices across the organization.

Requirements

What you’ll need

Bachelor’s or Master’s in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field
14–18+ years of professional software engineering experience, including significant time in platform, integration, or large‑scale distributed systems roles
Deep expertise in API development (REST, gRPC, GraphQL) and microservices architecture ; hands‑on with event streaming (Kafka/Event Hubs)
Strong proficiency with cloud platforms (AWS/Azure) , container orchestration (Docker/Kubernetes) , and CI/CD at scale
Demonstrated leadership in security‑first designs (OAuth2/JWT, RBAC) and observability (metrics/logs/traces) for production platforms
Excellent communication and stakeholder management; ability to influence architecture and execution across multiple teams.

Benefits

Comp & perks

Professional growth opportunities
Leadership programs
Diversity celebration