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Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Principal Software Engineer (hands-on) - **Company:** Cars Commerce - **Location:** Chicago, IL, United States (Remote available) - **Salary:** $175,800.0 - $219,750.0 - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Distributed Systems, Node.Js, Systems Development Life Cycle, Role-Based Access Control, Software Engineering, TypeScript, Large Language Models, Multi-Agent Systems, Backend, Event Driven Architecture, Stripe, Information Technology, Apache Kafka, Front End Software Development, Multiaccess Edge Computing, Virtual Agents - **Published:** August 5, 2026 - **Apply:** https://arc.dev/remote-jobs/j/redirect/p9zn9rn3o3 ## About the Role As a Principal Software Engineer, you are a highly skilled, hands-on technical leader who can shape high-level technology strategy one hour and roll up your sleeves to solve a complex concurrency bug the next. You believe that the best code is written by humans empowered by world-class AI, and you thrive on solving the most challenging problems at the heart of a massive platform. You are a lifelong student of systems who uses data-not dogma-to improve, influence, and lead impactful change at scale., * Education: Bachelor's degree or higher in Computer Science or equivalent industry experience. * Track Record: 12+ years of software engineering excellence, including significant time at the Staff or Principal level * Backend Mastery: Deep expertise in designing high-concurrency distributed systems. You are comfortable navigating complex data-consistency models, event-driven architectures (Kafka/MSK), and optimizing for sub-second latency. * Frontend as a System: You don't just "build UIs"; you architect extensible frontend platforms. This means designing robust State Management strategies, implementing complex RBAC across the stack, and ensuring UI performance through efficient data-fetching patterns. * Pragmatic Polyglot: You are an expert in TypeScript/Node.js, but you are language-agnostic. You choose the tool that fits the problem, not the one that fits your comfort zone. * AI-Native: You believe AI is the biggest shift in engineering since the Cloud. You have an established workflow for leveraging LLMs to accelerate personal and team-wide output. * Strategic Advisory & Influence: You bridge the gap between technical possibility and business reality. You have a proven ability to drive consensus in complex environments by using data-not just opinion-to influence stakeholders and align engineering roadmaps with C-suite objectives. * Architectural R&D: You don't just maintain a stack; you evolve it. You have a track record of evaluating emerging technologies (e.g., NewSQL, Edge Computing, or Agentic AI) and running proof-of-concepts that modernize the tech stack without disrupting production stability. Bonus Experience within a large-scale, "Big Tech," or high-growth environment or FAANG, Uber, Stripe etc ## Description * Architectural Stewardship: Define the evolution of our services to support sub-second latency and massive concurrency. You will bridge the gap between heavy-lift backend systems and modern, intuitive UI products. * AI Orchestration: Redefine the SDLC by integrating LLM-based orchestration into the development workflow, significantly increasing the organization's velocity. * Influence via Data: Lead the RFC process by driving consensus across engineering and product boundaries. You don't rely on "title power"-you use data, benchmarks, and clear trade-off analysis to align stakeholders. * Operational Excellence at Scale: Own the "Four Nines" (99.99%) for services handling tens of thousands of requests per second. You will treat observability and developer experience as first-class products. * Force Multiplier: Act as a sponsor for Staff and Senior engineers. You are responsible for raising the technical "ceiling" of the entire engineering organization. ## Related Videos - [Navigating Growth, Scaling Challenges, and Office Expansions with David Singleton, CTO at Stripe](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100362-navigating-growth-scaling-challenges-and-office-expansions-with-david-singleton-cto-at-stripe) - [The Software Engineer 2030: From Coder To AI Orchestrator? - Patrick Schnell](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1825-the-software-engineer-2030-from-coder-to-ai-orchestrator-patrick-schnell) - [Stop using Node.js like in 2020! What changed and what you can do today with Node.js](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100011-stop-using-node-js-like-in-2020-what-changed-and-what-you-can-do-today-with-node-js) - [Developing the Backend with Stefan Lingler, CTO at Shpock](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100360-developing-the-backend-with-stefan-lingler-cto-at-shpock) - [Build Your Own Subscription-based Course Platform](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/321-build-your-own-subscription-based-course-platform) - [Stop Using Node.js Like It’s 2020! - Alfonso Graziano](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1863-stop-using-node-js-like-it-s-2020-alfonso-graziano) ## Related Articles - [Navigating the AI Shift](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/629-navigating-the-ai-shift) - [Highest Paying Tech Companies for Developers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/220-highest-paying-tech-companies-for-developers) - [Is Software Engineering Over-Saturated?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/418-is-software-engineering-over-saturated) - [Fully Remote Software Engineer Jobs](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/447-fully-remote-software-engineer-jobs) - [Highest Paying Tech Companies in Europe](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/162-highest-paying-tech-companies-in-europe) - [Dev Digest 120 - Apple and peers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/455-dev-digest-120-apple-and-peers)