Principal Software Engineer — Distributed Systems / Cloud-Native SaaS

We are Progress (Nasdaq: PRGS) - the trusted provider of software that enables our customers to develop, deploy and manage responsible, AI-powered applications and experiences with agility and ease.

We’re proud to have a diverse, global team where we value the individual and enrich our culture by considering varied perspectives because we believe people power progress. Join us as a Principal Software Engineer -Distributed Systems / Cloud-Native SaaS and help us do what we do best: propelling business forward.  This will be a hybrid role working between your home office and our Raleigh NC location.

Join us in building the next generation of cloud-native platforms that power the Progress Data Platform. As a Principal Engineer, you'll have the opportunity to shape technical strategy, mentor exceptional engineers, and solve fascinating distributed systems challenges at scale. This is a high-impact role where your architectural decisions will influence how we deliver reliable, secure experiences to customers worldwide.

You will lead the technical direction for scalable services, establish reliability and performance standards, and define engineering patterns that span multiple teams. You should be comfortable working across backend services, APIs, cloud infrastructure, data pipelines, observability, security, and deployment automation.

In this role, you will:

• Design and build elegant distributed systems that scale seamlessly to meet customer demand
• Drive reliability, performance, security, and operational excellence across production systems
• Design secure multi-tenant architectures with strong isolation and compliance controls
• Grow and inspire senior engineers, fostering a culture of technical excellence and continuous learning
• Partner with product, platform, and engineering leadership on technical strategy and roadmap
• Lead pragmatic adoption of modern engineering practices: GitOps, observability, progressive delivery

Your background:

• Principal, Staff, or senior technical leadership experience with hands-on coding
• Strong background in distributed systems, SaaS, and cloud-native architecture in production
• Experience operating systems at scale: HA/DR, multi-region, chaos engineering
• Deep knowledge of at least one major cloud (AWS/Azure/GCP); familiarity with Kubernetes, service mesh, serverless
• Experience with messaging (Kafka, SQS, Pub/Sub), caching, databases (SQL & NoSQL), observability stacks
• Proficiency in modern languages (Rust, Python, Go, TypeScript preferred; no specific requirement)
• You think security-first and have practical experience with IAM, secrets management, and compliance frameworks (SOC2, GDPR, etc.)
• Strong communication skills; proven ability to influence without authority

Base Salary Range: $162,000 - $189,000

This position is also eligible to participate in our performance-based annual corporate bonus plan. Final base compensation is determined by a number of factors, including but not limited to job-related skills, education, demonstrable experience, and allowance for future and continued salary growth. We also offer a robust benefits package, with details below.

If this sounds like you and fits your experience and career goals, we’d be happy to chat.

What we offer in return is the opportunity to experience a great company culture with wonderful colleagues to learn from and collaborate with and also to enjoy:

• Medical, dental, vision, life & disability, and financial benefits (including 401(k) retirement savings plan. Tuition Reimbursement program. Additional voluntary benefits including crucial illness/hospital indemnity, identity theft protection, auto & home insurance, legal, and pet insurance.
• Competitive salary, bonus, and best-in-class Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP) with a 27-month lookback
• Flexible paid vacation time, paid day off for your birthday, and company holidays. A variety of leave plans, including Parental Leave.
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and an employee well-being program focusing on physical, mental, and financial health.

Apply Now!

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