> Markdown version of [/jobs/ext/4641263-principal-software-engineer-distributed-systems-connected-platforms-ai](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/jobs/ext/4641263-principal-software-engineer-distributed-systems-connected-platforms-ai). 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). --- # Principal Software Engineer - Distributed Systems, Connected Platforms & AI - **Company:** PAC Panasonic Avionics Corporation - **Location:** Irvine, CA, United States - **Experience:** Expert - **Salary:** $171,000.0 - $268,000.0 - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Java (Programming Language), Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), Artificial Intelligence, Data Analysis, Automation of Tests, Bluetooth, C++ (Programming Language), Cloud Computing, Configuration Management, Computer Programming, Software Debugging, Distributed Systems, Payment Systems, Middleware, Embedded Software, Interoperability, Python (Programming Language), Machine Learning, Payment Gateway, PCI Data Security Standards, Cloud Services, Software Engineering, Systems Architecture, Tokenization, TypeScript, Performance Testing, Large Language Models, Reliability of Systems, Backend, Agentic-AI, Kotlin, Event Driven Architecture, Integration Tests, Information Technology, Production Code, Data Management, Multiaccess Edge Computing, Asynchronous Programming, Golang - **Published:** November 8, 2026 - **Apply:** https://www.careerbuilder.com/job-details/principal-software-engineer-distributed-systems-connected-platforms-ai-irvine-ca--f92dda61-b5d8-44ea-83e4-9218e5b2dd64 ## About the Role Distributed Computing, Software Engineering, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Bluetooth, Avionics, Film, Mobile Games, Team Player, Problem Solving Skills, Customer Relations, * Significant experience building and operating production software systems, typically 12+ years, including technical leadership across multiple teams or major platform initiatives. * Demonstrated ability to define architecture, lead adoption, and remain accountable for production outcomes. * Deep expertise in distributed systems, APIs, event-driven architectures, data modeling, and cloud platforms. * Strong experience in commerce or payments, with a working understanding of transaction lifecycles, consistency, idempotency, and reconciliation. * Experience integrating software with connected devices, embedded platforms, or other hardware-dependent systems. * Strong programming skills in one or more production languages, such as Java, Kotlin, Go, Python, C++, or TypeScript. * Experience improving reliability through observability, performance engineering, automated testing, and incident analysis. * Ability to influence without direct authority, navigate ambiguity, and communicate clearly with engineering, product, operations, and business leaders. * Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience., * Experience with payment gateways, processors, tokenization, fraud controls, and systems operating within PCI DSS scope. * Experience with edge computing, offline transaction workflows, device telemetry, remote software updates, or large connected-device fleets. * Experience designing data platforms that support analytics, experimentation, personalization, or machine learning. * Practical experience building LLM-powered applications or agentic workflows, including tool integration, evaluation, and production monitoring. * Experience in travel, aviation, mobility, retail, or other environments where digital services depend on physical infrastructure. * A track record of simplifying complex platforms and delivering incremental modernization without disrupting customers. ## Description The Avionics Way captures the essence of what makes our employees special, and by extension, our organization. It's comprised of 5 core identifiers - Pioneers, Problem Solvers, Accountable, Collaborative, and Customer Focused - that together form a robust, working framework for our continued success. Beyond a philosophy, the Avionics Way is our guide to daily practices. It provides a clear, actionable model to help employees, at all levels, realize their ambitions through outsized contributions to their teams and the company. This model clearly defines expectations for performance at all levels of the organization, as well as establishes specific actions and modes of working that reinforce our philosophy on the path to achieving our goals., We are seeking a Principal Software Engineer with strong middleware and backend systems to define the technical direction for platforms that connect e-commerce, payments, and data across cloud services and connected hardware. You will solve complex engineering problems spanning digital experiences, distributed transactions, device integration, and environments with intermittent connectivity., * Set technical direction. Own the architecture and technical roadmap across commerce, payments, and connected platforms. Align teams around clear system boundaries, interfaces, and engineering standards. * Build reliable commerce and payment systems. Guide the design of catalog, pricing, checkout, order management, payment orchestration, and reconciliation capabilities, with strong attention to transaction correctness, security, and failure recovery. * Connect hardware and software. Design cloud-to-device workflows that account for constrained compute, intermittent connectivity, software and firmware compatibility, remote configuration, and fleet observability. * Establish trusted data foundations. Define event models, data contracts, and pipelines that support operational intelligence, analytics, personalization, and traceability across customer and transaction journeys. * Engineer for real-world conditions. Address offline operation, synchronization, retries, duplicate events, partial failures, and recovery across cloud and edge environments. * Make quality an engineering responsibility. Establish measurable reliability and performance targets, automated validation, representative integration testing, and release readiness criteria. Partner with teams to reduce escaped defects and improve detection and recovery. * Apply agentic AI with measurable value. Identify and deliver focused use cases such as test generation, incident investigation, and operational assistance. Establish evaluations, permission boundaries, human oversight, and auditability appropriate to each use case. * Lead through implementation. Build prototypes, contribute production code, review critical designs, and resolve the most difficult technical problems. * Multiply engineering effectiveness. Mentor senior and staff engineers, develop technical leaders, and drive decisions across organizational boundaries through clear reasoning and evidence. * Connect technical choices to business outcomes. Communicate tradeoffs involving customer experience, delivery speed, reliability, cost, and long-term maintainability. Systems Architecture and Technical Strategy * Define and drive architecture across distributed systems, embedded platforms, operating systems, cloud infrastructure, and digital applications. * Establish clear architectural boundaries, interfaces, APIs, and contracts that enable independent development, testing, and deployment. * Identify and eliminate systemic bottlenecks, unnecessary dependencies, and architectural complexity. * Lead modernization of existing systems while maintaining backward compatibility, production stability, and customer commitments. * Make sound technical tradeoffs involving performance, reliability, scalability, security, maintainability, and engineering velocity. Distributed Systems and Connected Platforms * Architect reliable systems spanning cloud, edge computing, embedded software, and connected hardware. * Solve complex engineering challenges involving concurrency, distributed state, synchronization, asynchronous communication, partial failures, and recovery. * Design systems that operate predictably under network constraints, intermittent connectivity, and resource limitations. * Address software compatibility, configuration management, remote deployments, and system lifecycle management across heterogeneous platforms. * Establish engineering patterns that improve fault isolation, resilience, modularity, and end-to-end system behavior., * Define engineering standards for system reliability, performance, availability, testability, and observability. * Establish measurable quality gates, automated integration testing, performance validation, and production readiness criteria. * Lead complex system-level debugging and root-cause investigations across software, hardware, networking, and cloud boundaries. * Drive improvements in fault detection, diagnostics, failure recovery, and system telemetry. * Reduce escaped defects, integration complexity, and release dependencies through sustainable engineering improvements. * Promote engineering ownership of quality and operational outcomes throughout the software lifecycle., * Teams execute against a clear technical strategy with well-defined ownership and interfaces. * Commerce and payment journeys remain correct and reliable under real-world connectivity and device constraints. * Releases demonstrate measurable improvements in quality, performance, and operational readiness. * Data is trustworthy and usable across engineering, product, and operations. * AI capabilities deliver demonstrated value with appropriate controls. * Engineers across the organization make better decisions and deliver more effectively through your leadership.