About the Role

Full-Time Principal Software Engineer (Remote). A fast-growing, high-volume technology company is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to serve as the senior-most individual contributor and technical architect across its platform. This is a pivotal hire that will modernize a mature, revenue-critical codebase and shape the long-term technical strategy.

You will own architecture, modernization, high-throughput event processing, API design, and front-end evolution while partnering directly with executive leadership. This role begins hands-on and transitions into a high-leverage architecture/technical leadership position as the organization scales and phases out external development resources.

Why This Role Matters

The platform is stable and widely adopted, but feature velocity, UX modernization, and system scalability must accelerate to meet the needs of enterprise customers.

This role will:

• Lead modernization of a long-lived core codebase.
• Increase reliability and scale of a real-time event pipeline.
• Improve publisher-facing dashboards and platform usability.
• Set technical standards and build a small, high-performing team over time.

You will effectively be the technical linchpin connecting product vision to scalable execution.

Core Areas of Ownership

Architecture & Modernization

• Guide evolution from a legacy PHP codebase to a structured Laravel foundation.
• Introduce modern UI components using React.
• Build Node.js microservices for high-throughput workloads.

High-Volume Event Pipeline

• Improve attribution accuracy, postback/webhook reliability, rate limiting, and retries.
• Strengthen real-time reporting, deduplication, and event integrity.

Security, Fraud & Compliance

• Implement fraud detection signals and identity/KYC controls where needed.
• Ensure systems are compliant with privacy regulations (GDPR/CCPA).

Platform UX & Tools

• Modernize internal dashboards and publisher/partner tools.
• Build feature depth that supports complex, multi-step user actions.

API-First Engineering

• Strengthen REST APIs with versioning, documentation, auth, and integration simplicity.
• Maintain a streamlined integration experience for external partners.

Team Building & Leadership

• Start hands-on (≈50%).
• Transition toward architecture/leadership (≈75%) as a near/offshore team is built and vendor reliance decreases.

Tech Environment

• Current PHP 8.8, SQL/MySQL, Linux, NGINX
• API integrations
• High-volume event workflows and complex partner integrations
• Laravel as core framework
• React front-end for dashboards and publisher tools
• Node.js microservices for scale
• BigQuery or similar for analytics, fraud signals, personalization
• API-first approach across all partner interactions

Day-to-Day Responsibilities

• Ship production code and conduct thorough PR reviews.
• Write architecture/design documents and set engineering standards.
• Own CI/CD, observability, testing practices, and production reliability.
• Partner closely with Product to connect engineering decisions to business outcomes.
• Lead modernization of backend and frontend components.
• Mentor engineers and support future team hiring.
• Collaborate directly with executive leadership on strategy and prioritization.

What We’re Looking For

• 10+ years building and scaling backend systems.
• Deep experience with PHP, SQL/MySQL, and REST APIs.
• Hands-on experience modernizing legacy systems at scale.
• Strong with Laravel, React, and/or Node.js in production environments.
• Experience with event-driven systems (queues, postbacks, webhooks).
• Strong understanding of auth, privacy, security, and data protection requirements.
• Proven track record of technical leadership, mentoring, and stakeholder communication.

Nice to Have

• Experience in any high-volume transactional or event-driven environment.
• Familiarity with MMPs, attribution workflows, or complex partner integrations.
• Experience building dashboards or portals for external users.
• Prior work with BigQuery or similar data warehouse solutions.
• Experience leading nearshore/offshore teams or reducing reliance on dev shops.

Culture

This is a high-ownership, low-bureaucracy environment. Success here means taking initiative, communicating clearly, and tying technical decisions directly to business impact. If you thrive in autonomy and want to shape architecture, process, and culture, this role is built for you.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: From $220,000.00 per year

Work Location: Remote