Principal Software Engineer – Distributed Systems, Cloud-Native SaaS

Progress

Principal Software Engineer developing cloud-native platforms for Progress Data Platform. Leading technical strategy and mentoring engineers in a hybrid role.

Posted 7/9/2026full-timeRaleigh • North Carolina • 🇺🇸 United StatesLead💰 $162,000 - $189,000 per yearWebsite

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

AWSAzureCloudDistributed SystemsGoGoogle Cloud PlatformKafkaKubernetesNoSQLPythonRustSQLTypeScript

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Design and build elegant distributed systems that scale seamlessly to meet customer demand
Drive reliability, performance, security, and operational excellence across production systems
Design secure multi-tenant architectures with strong isolation and compliance controls
Grow and inspire senior engineers, fostering a culture of technical excellence and continuous learning
Partner with product, platform, and engineering leadership on technical strategy and roadmap
Lead pragmatic adoption of modern engineering practices: GitOps, observability, progressive delivery

Requirements

What you’ll need

Principal, Staff, or senior technical leadership experience with hands-on coding
Strong background in distributed systems, SaaS, and cloud-native architecture in production
Experience operating systems at scale: HA/DR, multi-region, chaos engineering
Deep knowledge of at least one major cloud (AWS/Azure/GCP); familiarity with Kubernetes, service mesh, serverless
Experience with messaging (Kafka, SQS, Pub/Sub), caching, databases (SQL & NoSQL), observability stacks
Proficiency in modern languages (Rust, Python, Go, TypeScript preferred; no specific requirement)
You think security-first and have practical experience with IAM, secrets management, and compliance frameworks (SOC2, GDPR, etc.)
Strong communication skills; proven ability to influence without authority.

Benefits

Comp & perks

Medical, dental, vision, life & disability, and financial benefits (including 401(k) retirement savings plan)
Tuition Reimbursement program
Additional voluntary benefits including crucial illness/hospital indemnity, identity theft protection, auto & home insurance, legal, and pet insurance
Competitive salary, bonus, and best-in-class Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP) with a 27-month lookback
Flexible paid vacation time, paid day off for your birthday, and company holidays
A variety of leave plans, including Parental Leave
Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and an employee well-being program focusing on physical, mental, and financial health

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills & Tools

Distributed SystemsSaaSCloud ArchitectureChaos EngineeringModern Programming LanguagesMessaging SystemsDatabasesObservability StacksIAMCompliance Frameworks

Soft Skills

Strong Communication SkillsInfluencing Without Authority