Principal Engineer

Role overview A hands-on principal engineering role focused on shaping the architecture and delivery of a complex grantmaking platform. The position sits within the engineering leadership group and balances significant time spent writing production code with architectural direction, mentorship, and cross-functional collaboration on large, multi-team initiatives.

Responsibilities - Lead the architecture and end-to-end implementation of major, cross-cutting platform initiatives - Evaluate multiple design approaches, surface trade-offs, and select the path that best fits the realities of the existing system - Drive technical decisions through scoping, design, implementation, code review, rollout, and ongoing maintenance - Partner with engineering leadership, product, infrastructure, DevOps, and QA to align direction and improve processes - Write and review well-tested, high-quality code across user-facing and backend surfaces - Mentor engineers, raise the team's architectural literacy, and champion thoughtful use of AI-assisted development practices

Requirements - 8+ years of professional software engineering experience, with substantial time spent as a principal engineer or architect on a complex SaaS platform - Deep full-stack experience with Node.js, React, and modern JavaScript or TypeScript - Familiarity with large Ruby on Rails codebases, with the ability to engage credibly across both ecosystems - Working knowledge of AWS, deployment, scaling, observability, MySQL at scale, and supporting services such as Elasticsearch, Redis, and Resque - Strong communication skills and a track record of mentorship and raising the technical bar - Comfort making trade-offs that balance rapid delivery with long-term platform scalability

Benefits and work setup Full-time, exempt, remote position for candidates located in the United States. Two compensation zones are listed: one range for the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City, and a second range for all other U.S. locations. Benefits include medical, dental, and vision insurance; flexible time off; paid sick leave; 12 weeks of fully paid parental leave; an annual learning and development stipend; an internet stipend; a one-time home office setup stipend; a 401(k) with company match; and eligibility for incentive stock options.