Principal Software Engineer

Job description

ABOUT BLITZY Blitzy is a Cambridge, MA based AI software development platform on a mission to revolutionize the software development life cycle by autonomously building custom software to unlock the next industrial revolution. We're transforming how enterprises build software, turning enterprise requirements into production-ready code with an agentic software development platform that can autonomously execute 80% of the quantum of software development work. We're backed by multiple tier 1 investors, and have proven success as founders of previous start-ups. THE ROLE We are hiring a Principal Engineer to take full, hands-on ownership of Blitzy's most critical production-grade systems and to deliver high-leverage features that materially improve customer outcomes and engineering velocity. This is the most senior individual contributor role at the company today. This is not a Senior-plus role, an architecture-only role, or a promotion-track role. We are looking for someone who has already operated at Principal / Staff+ scope in a highly technical environment and expects to spend their time writing, reviewing, and shipping production code. This role is 100% hands-on. Leverage comes from system ownership, execution quality, and durable technical decisions — not people management or process. Location: Cambridge, MA (On-Site) Compensation: $280,000 - $320,000 + bonus and equity WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE - You independently own mission-critical production systems end-to-end - You ship high-leverage features that materially improve reliability, performance, and customer value - You raise the technical bar through working code and outcomes, not reviews alone - You identify and resolve the hardest technical bottlenecks limiting quality or velocity - You make technical decisions with long-term impact and stand behind them in production - You are a self-directed learner requiring minimal supervision - You are dedicated to getting things done right without making technical compromises - You demonstrate strong technical expertise across the full stack: frontend, backend, infrastructure, and AI systems - You materially increase the effectiveness of the engineering organization through example and judgment AREAS OF OWNERSHIP - End-to-end ownership of production-grade backend systems used by enterprise customers - Correctness, scalability, performance, and operational reliability in real environments - Delivery and stewardship of high-impact features, not just incremental improvements - Building and improving Blitzy using Blitzy, holding the platform to real-world standards - Designing, operating, and evolving LLM validation loops to ensure correctness, consistency, and durability in production - Setting engineering quality and durability expectations across teams without direct reports CORE TECHNOLOGIES & REQUIRED EXPERIENCE This role demands strong, hands-on experience across the full technology stack. You should have deep expertise in most of the following: BACKEND - Python (primary language) - Backend frameworks and microservices architectures - RPC-based services (REST, gRPC) - Node.js and JavaScript (supporting languages) CLOUD & INFRASTRUCTURE - Expertise across at least two of AWS, GCP, and Azure, with GCP mandatory - Expert-level Kubernetes experience for container orchestration in production environments - Terraform for infrastructure as code - Production systems: monitoring, reliability, scalability, and operational tooling DATABASES & DATA SYSTEMS - Strong expertise across both SQL and NoSQL databases - - SQL: PostgreSQL, MySQL, or similar relational databases - NoSQL: MongoDB, Cassandra, DynamoDB, or similar 1. Graph databases (Neo4j) for modeling and searching complex relationships 2. Vector databases / embeddings infrastructure for semantic search and retrieval AI / LLM TOOLING - Experience building and operating LLM-powered systems in production - Designing and implementing LLM validation loops (evaluation, feedback, regression testing, and failure analysis) - LangSmith (or equivalent tooling) for tracing, evaluation, and debugging - Familiarity with specific models or vendors (e.g., OpenAI, Anthropic) is a plus FRONTEND & FULL-STACK COMPETENCY - Strong understanding of frontend frameworks and architecture - Ability to evaluate and contribute to frontend technical decisions - Demonstrated technical expertise across the full stack — you can debug, design, and ship across frontend, backend, infrastructure, and AI layers ENTERPRISE SYSTEMS - Core understanding of how large-scale enterprise systems are designed, integrated, deployed, and operated - Experience working within — or modernizing — complex, long-lived production environments WAYS TO STAND OUT - Prior experience operating at Principal Engineer / Staff+ scope at a highly technical company - Deep understanding of how enterprise software systems are built and evolved at scale, including tradeoffs around reliability, change management, and long-term maintainability - Clear ownership of complex systems that you designed, built, and supported in production - Hands-on ownership of LLM validation loops used to ensure correctness and durability in real environments - Experience designing systems that combine graph, vector, and traditional data models to support reasoning over complex domains - Proven ability to deliver outsized impact through the right features, not just more code - Track record of being a self-learner who requires minimal supervision and gets things done without compromising on quality COMPENSATION Total compensation: $300,000 - $500,000 This includes a mix of competitive base salary and equity, tailored to demonstrated Principal-level experience, scope of ownership, and production impact. YOU'LL GET… - Competitive salary and equity - Paid medical, dental, and vision insurance for you and your dependents - 4% 401(k) match - Flexible vacation days, sick days, and work-from-home days - Technology (hardware, software, reading materials, etc.) equipment and/or allowance - The opportunity to re-shape an entire industry and create a platform that changes the future of software creation - A beautiful office environment with adjacent offices shared by other startups — an energizing community - Unlimited snacks, fizzy water, coffee, espresso, and whatever else you need to perform at your best OUR CULTURE Who we are: Led by two pioneering co-founders we are one of the fastest growing companies in the U.S., creating our own category of enterprise autonomous software development. We automate thousands of hours of software development for our customers, which includes strong representation within the Fortune 500. How we work: We move Blitzy Fast: Time is both our company's and our clients' most precious asset. We move quickly and decisively to innovate internally and deliver exceptional software externally. Championship Mindset: We operate like a professional sports team. We win as a team by holding ourselves and each other to high standards, collaborating in-person, and remaining focused on the mission. Passion for Invention: We're pushing the frontier of what's possible, requiring constant innovation and iteration. We Work for the Customer: We focus on delivering outsized value to the customers we work with and expanding those relationships into deep, meaningful partnerships. We believe in being 'everyday athletes'—taking care of ourselves so we can bring our best minds to work. We promote great sleep, movement, and restorative activities for optimal mental performance. It makes for a happier and more productive team.