> Markdown version of [/jobs/ext/2634598-principle-software-engineer](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/jobs/ext/2634598-principle-software-engineer). Every page supports `.md` or `Accept: text/markdown`. Links point to the HTML versions so they work for humans too. Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Principle Software Engineer - **Company:** Friedman Vartolo LLP - **Location:** Tampa, FL, United States - **Experience:** Expert - **Salary:** $100,000.0 - $110,000.0 - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Artificial Intelligence, DevOps, Backend, Front End Software Development - **Published:** August 5, 2026 - **Apply:** https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=1f489545240f52dc ## About the Role * Technical depth that challenges the best in the room (the differentiator). You can look at how a strong engineer is approaching a hard problem, see a better architecture, make the case, and be right. System design and engineering judgment are your edge - not just how fast you type., We hire on demonstrated ability, not pedigree. Expect real technical conversation with our Head of Engineering - come ready to defend your choices and push back on his; we're hiring people who make him think. Strong finalists work through a hands-on technical challenge: a small, real, deliberately under-specified problem, tool-open (use whatever you'd use on the job, AI included) - so we judge how you actually build, not how you interview. ## Description Friedman Vartolo LLP is a default-services law firm building its own software in-house. Leadership builds directly alongside a tight engineering team using modern AI development tooling. We are not a law-firm IT department - we are a real engineering organization inside a law firm, building a category-defining automation platform with direct impact on the firm's strategic direction. We hire few, exceptional engineers and give them outsized ownership. We are hiring a very small number of exceptional engineers - people who can challenge our most senior engineers on architecture, make the case for a better approach, and be right often enough that it matters. This is not a role for a fast, tidy executor of someone else's design - we have that covered. We want the engineer who sees the better way to build it, wins the argument, and then ships it. You will work at the core of our automation platform - designing and building the systems the firm runs on - force-multiplied by modern AI tooling, with near-total autonomy and outsized ownership., What You'll Do * Build end-to-end across the stack - front-end, back-end, data, integrations - production systems the firm depends on. * Turn ambiguous, high-level problems into shipped, working software, fast. You own the path from "here's the problem" to "it's live." * Use AI development tooling as a genuine force multiplier - we build with Claude and Claude Code; you get more done because you leverage the tools, not despite them. * Own what you ship - design, build, deploy, and stand behind it. * Raise the technical bar - bring architecture and engineering judgment strong enough to challenge and sharpen the team's most senior people, not just execute their decisions., * Autonomy and throughput - assumed. Given an assignment you run without hand-holding and move fast. We keep a light daily cadence to assign and track work - you show up to it with shipped progress, not a list of blockers. This is the floor, not what sets you apart. * Build-anything breadth. Genuinely full-stack; not boxed into one layer or one language. You learn what you need and build it. * AI-tooling fluency. You are already elite at building with AI dev tools - we build with Claude and Claude Code, and that fluency is central to the role, not a bonus. * Ownership. You stand behind what you ship and don't need the problem fully specified before you start. You do not need to know the legal domain or our systems on day one - you will learn those. We are hiring for architecture judgment, raw building ability, and the confidence to push back. What This Role Is Not * Not a role for a fast executor who needs the design handed to them. That's a different (also-valued) seat. This one owns the design. * Not a DevOps / reliability / ops role. We have separate ownership for the deployment pipeline and operational work; this is a build seat. * Not a management role. Hands-on senior individual contributor. ## Related Videos - [From DevOps to Scaled DevOps: How We’re Rebuilding Continuous Delivery as a Platform](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100018-from-devops-to-scaled-devops-how-we-re-rebuilding-continuous-delivery-as-a-platform) - [Developing the Backend with Stefan Lingler, CTO at Shpock](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100360-developing-the-backend-with-stefan-lingler-cto-at-shpock) - [Edit Your Future: Queerverse Radical AI](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/909-edit-your-future-queerverse-radical-ai) - [Hiring AI Native Talents](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100268-hiring-ai-native-talents) - [DevOps Maturity Check – a way to balance autonomy and alignment](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/58-devops-maturity-check-a-way-to-balance-autonomy-and-alignment) - [Building the Next Generation of Software](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100186-building-the-next-generation-of-software) ## Related Articles - [What is Software Engineering in the Age of AI?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/640-what-is-software-engineering-in-the-age-of-ai) - [Navigating the AI Shift](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/629-navigating-the-ai-shift) - [How to Answer the Interview Question: “Why Do You Want to Be a Software Engineer?”](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/392-how-to-answer-the-interview-question-why-do-you-want-to-be-a-software-engineer) - [Is Software Engineering Hard?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/448-is-software-engineering-hard) - [Top Characteristics of a Software Engineer](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/166-top-characteristics-of-a-software-engineer) - [Never delegate the understanding](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/749-never-delegate-the-understanding)