Principal Backend Engineer

What You’ll Do

• Drive and define architectural roadmaps for backend systems.
• Architect and lead the strategic decomposition of a mature Django application into scalable, asynchronous microservices.
• Define technical strategy, tech stack, and how code is organized across repositories. Make critical build-vs-buy decisions, including evaluating whether to proceed with internal implementation vs. using a 3rd-party tool.
• Write code for the most complex, critical system mechanisms. While you won’t be fixing everyday bugs, you will implement the most critical mechanisms, and features for the business. Help teammates when needed.
• Architect secure and scalable integration patterns across the system, establishing best practices for 3rd-party integrations, identity management, and SSO/SCIM integrations.
• Redefine system architecture & design by auditing existing microservices and implementing strict bounded contexts.
• Design robust, scalable, and standardized APIs. Take ownership of the cloud architecture strategy with a strong emphasis on backend resilience, fault tolerance, and performance.
• Act as the technical cornerstone for the engineering team. Partner directly with engineering leadership to define and enforce technical standards. You will have the organizational backing to drive complex architectural transitions across a team of 7-8 engineers.

• Expert knowledge of modern backend infrastructure and asynchronous messaging/storage (RabbitMQ, Celery, Kafka, PostgreSQL, Redis, etc.).
• Solid foundation in Python (or deep expertise in Go/C++/Rust with a working knowledge of Python) coupled with the engineering maturity to quickly master the Python backend ecosystem.
• Extensive Backend Experience with a proven track record in principal-level roles designing complex, distributed systems.
• Pragmatic Architectural Mastery. Expertise in designing highly cohesive, loosely coupled systems. Deep understanding of software design patterns and architectural methodologies such as Domain-Driven Design, Clean Architecture, Hexagonal combined with the clear judgment on when simpler approaches are better.
• Strong background in designing client APIs. Not just individual APIs or groups, but the entire API schema and contract of a system.
• Deep understanding of cloud architecture, containerization, and CI/CD pipelines.
• Demonstrated ability to influence engineering practices, drive technical consensus, and lead complex architectural transitions across multiple teams.
• You have skills and authority to coach and mentor the team. You have skills or knowledge the team can learn from you.
• Experience working in Agile/Scrum environments.

Nice to have

• Experience with Azure as a cloud platform.
• Experience designing and implementing GraphQL APIs.
• Experience with Kubernetes or other container orchestration tools.
• Experience implementing Identity Management in enterprise applications (SCIM provisioning, OAuth2, OpenID Connect, SAML).
• Polyglot background: Experience with Golang, Rust, or C++ for performance-critical domains.
• Spec-Driven Development (SDD) & AI-Native Engineering. Experience designing formal, machine-readable specifications and strict contracts, tests as the single source of truth. You know how to define strict system boundaries and executable contracts that constrain AI agents, ensuring they accelerate code generation without introducing architectural drift or spaghetti code.

Parallels has an immediate vacancy for this role.

Push the boundaries of tech. In your sweatpants.

We’re looking for an experienced Principal Backend Engineer to help us change the way the world works, with Parallels: anytime, anywhere, any-device productivity. Here, you’ll drive the outbound prospecting effort by executing strategic prospecting campaigns to target accounts and executive personas with our Parallels team.

The top creative and technical minds could work anywhere. So why are so many of them choosing Parallels? Here are three reasons:

• This is the moment. It’s an exciting time at Parallels, with strong leadership, a refreshed brand, and a whole new approach to changing the way the world works. We’re at the forefront of a movement, and we want you to ride this wave with us.
• We want you to be you. Too often, companies tell you about their culture and then expect you to fit it. Our culture is built from the people who work here. We want you to feel safe to be who you are, take risks, and show us what you’ve got.
• It’s your world. We know you have a life. We want to be part of it, but not all of it. At Parallels, we’re serious about empowering people to work when, how, and where they want. Couch? Sweatpants? Cool with us. We believe that happy employees mean happy customers. That’s why we hire amazing people and get out of their way.

Sound good so far? Awesome. Let’s talk more about the Principal Backend Engineer role and see if we’re destined to be together., Parallels is a top VDI/EUC product helping businesses since 1999. Whether it’s desktop or cloud, on-prem or hybrid, Parallels delivers speed, security, and affordability for the modern work environment.