Principal Software Engineer

Partner with engineering teams to co-deliver complex work across platform modernization, product evolution, and new product bets.

Adapt your technical approach, planning style, and delivery strategy to match the needs of the work.

Use AI-native development methods to build automation, validation, and engineering harnesses that improve speed, quality, and leverage.

Define and drive technical strategy

Lead technical strategy across large, multi-team initiatives with long-term impact.

Define and evolve system boundaries across complex domains, with a focus on clean interfaces and scalability.

Identify and remove bottlenecks in performance, data flow, reliability, and architecture.

Lead exploration, prototyping, and validation for ambiguous technical problems.

Partner with cross-functional peers on disaster recovery planning, testing, and optimization.

Design AI-driven systems

Design systems that enable autonomous or semi-autonomous engineering workflows.

Build context-aware infrastructure that connects code, documentation, and systems to AI tooling.

Develop guardrails such as validation layers, static analysis, and automation hooks to ensure safe and reliable AI-assisted development.

Improve how AI is used across the organization for both effectiveness and efficiency.

Influence and lead

Raise the technical bar by helping teams think bigger and execute better.

Mentor and challenge Staff+ engineers to expand their scope, judgment, and impact.

Partner with engineering and product leadership to align technical decisions with business outcomes.

Create durable artifacts such as runbooks, decision logs, and tests that can be handed off and evolved by others.

Contribute across product domains, bringing context from one area to solve problems in another., Workiva employees are required to undertake comprehensive security and privacy training tailored to their roles, ensuring adherence to company policies and regulatory standards.

Minimum Qualifications 8+ years of experience building and scaling complex software systems.

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Security, or a related field; or 6+ years and a Master’s degree; or a PhD with 4+ years of experience; or equivalent practical experience

Demonstrated experience using AI as a primary development collaborator, with a strong quality bar for AI-generated output., Proven success leading large, cross-pillar technical initiatives.

Track record of working effectively across platform modernization, iterative product development, and greenfield delivery.

Strong architectural judgment across distributed systems, APIs, and platform design

Ability to operate as a force multiplier for other engineers.

Experience improving engineering testing standards through approaches such as TDD, BDD, load testing, stress testing, chaos testing, invariant testing, or mutation testing.

Experience building infrastructure that improves engineering velocity and quality at scale.

Strong background in distributed systems and platform architecture.

Experience inferring behavioral specifications from existing systems through code, tests, logs, and subject-matter experts.

Ability to deliver production-quality outcomes in a small, time-boxed team setting.

Strong written communication skills and a habit of creating durable, useful artifacts.

A leadership style that empowers others rather than creating dependency.

• Salary range in the US: $177,000.00 - $284,000.00
• A discretionary bonus typically paid annually
• Restricted Stock Units granted at time of hire
• 401(k) match and comprehensive employee benefits package

Workiva is the platform designed to bring confidence, control, and a competitive edge to the world’s most complex organizations. Our AI-powered platform unifies finance, risk, and sustainability on a single, secure foundation-ensuring data is trusted, traceable, and ready to act on. With an unbroken path from source to output, leaders gain confidence in their numbers, visibility into current and emerging risks, and the ability to move with speed and precision in a constantly changing world. At Workiva, you’ll bring technology to market that executives, boards, and regulators depend on. The work you do here helps organizations navigate uncertainty, maintain trust, and make decisions that stand up to scrutiny. If you’re energized by meaningful challenges, inspired by collaborative teams, and motivated to help organizations turn uncertainty into advantage, we’d love to meet you.