Principal Software Engineer

DealerBuilt empowers people to achieve their ambitions through automotive dealership SaaS brands like Lightyear, Oplogic, iService, and Vistadash. Our innovative technology provides unparalleled flexibility, efficiency, and control for dealerships.

WHY WE'RE LOOKING:

We are seeking a Principal Software Engineer to lead technical excellence and architectural modernization across our engineering organization. This senior technical leader will set direction, elevate engineering capabilities, and influence best practices. The ideal candidate possesses deep architectural expertise and a proven ability to enhance team effectiveness and make critical technical decisions impacting our product portfolio.

WHAT YOU'LL DO:

Architectural Leadership & Technical Strategy:

• Own architectural decisions for your team's domain, ensuring scalability, reliability, and maintainability.
• Drive our AWS cloud migration strategy, making key infrastructure and platform decisions.
• Define and evangelize technical standards, patterns, and best practices to improve code quality.
• Identify and eliminate technical debt, balancing short-term delivery with long-term architectural health.
• Make high-stakes technical decisions and act as the technical authority for complex challenges.

Team Elevation & Technical Leadership:

• Elevate team members' capabilities through coaching, code reviews, and architectural guidance.
• Unblock engineers by solving complex technical challenges and providing clear direction.
• Model engineering excellence through exemplary code, design, and technical communication.
• Provide lateral technical influence to other teams, sharing knowledge and driving best practice adoption.
• Partner with engineering leadership to shape technical roadmaps and organizational capabilities.

Delivery & Operational Excellence:

• Lead by example in delivering high-impact features using our tech stack.
• Drive system reliability and performance optimization initiatives.
• Establish testing strategies and quality standards to prevent production issues.
• Lead incident response for critical issues, conducting post-mortems and implementing preventive measures.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR:

Required:

• 10+ years of software engineering experience with a proven track record of architectural leadership and team elevation.
• Deep expertise in designing scalable SaaS systems and leading modernization efforts (cloud migrations, architecture refactoring).
• Strong hands-on proficiency across the full stack—modern frontend frameworks (React/TypeScript), backend languages (PHP, C#, Java), relational databases (MySQL/PostgreSQL), and cloud platforms (AWS experience strongly preferred).
• Demonstrated ability to make sound technical decisions under uncertainty and communicate rationale effectively.
• Evidence of multiplying team effectiveness through mentorship, technical standards, or process improvements.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to influence technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Preferred:

• Experience as the technical leader in a small to mid-size engineering team (3-8 engineers).
• Background in the automotive industry or complex B2B SaaS environments.
• Track record of successfully leading cloud migration or large-scale modernization projects.
• Experience establishing engineering practices and standards in growing organizations.

WHAT'S IN IT FOR YOU:

• Competitive Compensation with advancement opportunities.
• Comprehensive Benefits including health coverage, financial wellness programs, insurance, and 401(k) with company match.
• Work-Life Balance with fully remote work and Unlimited Paid Time Off.
• Employee Assistance Program for mental and emotional well-being.
• Employee Referral Program.

DealerBuilt is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We consider qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender perception or identity, national origin, age, marital status, protected veteran status, or disability status.