Principal Engineer

Principal engineer

Are higher-level positions compared to senior engineers. Principal oversee technical parts of

the organizations software development projects.

Principal engineers focus on developing solutions to help the company. They are responsible

for growing teams and the technical aspects of software engineering projects

Responsibilities

Delivery

• Work with the customer to capture, analyze, and decompose system requirements. Create

effective and applicable technical solutions that fit business needs and requirements

• Working with Tech Leads and Senior Engineers, provide design reviews and give technical

recommendations

• Provide technical consulting on complex to highly complex projects

• Assist in analyzing and troubleshooting application issues

• Devise or modify procedures to solve highly complex problems

• Support and facilitate in maintenance and upgrades of existing software applications

• Ensure that all projects are of high-quality

• Build positive relationships with engineering managers in the organization to understand

and solve for specific domain challenges

Practice & Craftsmanship

• Develop and provide technical standards and guidance in all software design and

development activities

• Investigate and prototype new technologies and frameworks and make recommendations

for their introduction into the developmental and operational environments.

• Recommend new technologies to help improve productivity

• Identify and implement appropriate continuous improvement opportunities and proven

best practices across software engineering and operations

• Identify and establish relevant metrics to establish software engineering KPIs

• Drive to debug, instrument, and optimize code, describe system performance

characteristics, and automate routine tasks

Capability Development

• Coach. mentor & train engineers on building for failure, technical problem solving, solution

creation via code, improving their coding skills

• Own the Expertise Framework. Hold workshops and instruct, teach engineers on various

aspects of software design and development

• Periodically Assess the skill level of engineers and work with their managers to identify

areas of improvement, further learning

Other

• Work with teams [ Squad / Area ] to plan, prioritize, and complete project assignments

• Participate in risk assessments and mitigating activities as needed

• Regularly attend meetings to discuss projects, issues, and ideas

• Participate in technical audits and ensure the implementation recommendations

• Support the whole software development life cycle (SDLC)

• Determine department goals and creating implementation plans

Required Skills

• High understanding of both backend and frontend side of software development

• Experienced in different software development methods

• Experienced in developing and maintaining complex distributed systems

• Exceptional leadership and mentorship skills

• Outstanding analytical skills

• In-depth knowledge of various software development technologies and tools

• High-level skills in programming languages (Java, JavaScript, etc.)

• Action-oriented, decisive approach to work required, with the willingness to take a handson

role to ensure deliverables are met on time if needed.

• Proven experience and expertise in delivering high quality enterprise applications.

• Stakeholder Management as they are expected to collaborate with stakeholders

understanding on high level technical requirements and the possibility of setting up squads

• Interpersonal skills: Principal engineers must motivate staff in different areas and projects.

• Leadership skills: Principal engineers use other leadership skills, such as strategizing,

motivating and ensuring all teams receive the appropriate information and guidance.

• Communication skills: Principal engineers communicate high-level strategies to their teams

and negotiate terms with other squads / area / projects and individuals in the field.

• Innovative and creative skills: Principal engineers review projects across areas / domain to

create new theories and determine strategies that others in the field can use.

• Ability to think independently and contribute to the overall effort without much direction.

• Ability to work well within a team environment.

• Ability to work well under pressure.

• Ability to be a self-starter and work in a fast paced environment performing work of high

difficulty in designing, writing, editing, modifying and debugging code.