Principal .NET Developer

Location: Remote – Preferred states: NC, FL, CO, WA, PA

Employment Type: Permanent / Direct Hire / Full-time

Salary: up to $200K (depending on experience)

Work Authorization: Only candidates who do not require sponsorship now or in the future will be considered

The Role

We are seeking a Principal Software Engineer to serve as both a hands-on technical leader and the primary architect of core systems. This role is ideal for a player-coach who thrives in smaller teams, takes full ownership of technical architecture, and is capable of driving modernization across legacy and modern platforms. This individual will act as the complete system owner, responsible for on-premises and hybrid cloud environments, databases, networking, and application architecture.

What You’ll Do

• Lead modernization of a legacy .NET v4 platform toward .NET 8 while ensuring stability of current systems.
• Own architecture for applications, infrastructure, databases, and networking across on-premises and Azure hybrid environments.
• Provide hands-on development (C#, .NET, EF, T-SQL) while also guiding technical direction, performing code reviews, and setting standards.
• Define and implement strategies for scaling, security, and reliability of systems and data.
• Collaborate with a fractional product manager to refine requirements and align technical solutions with business goals.
• Mentor engineers, establish best practices, and ensure adherence to modern engineering principles.
• Troubleshoot and resolve issues across networking, servers, and data systems.
• Partner with DevOps to guide CI/CD, QA, and automation standards (though not responsible for building pipelines directly).

Required Experience

• 10+ years of professional software engineering experience, including leadership and architecture responsibilities.
• Deep expertise in .NET (C#) with significant experience in both legacy (.NET v4) and modern (.NET 6/8) systems.
• Strong T-SQL and Entity Framework experience from a software engineering perspective.
• Proven ability to modernize and optimize large-scale systems.
• Solid experience with SQL Server (on-prem) and Azure SQL.
• Hands-on familiarity with on-premises infrastructure: Windows Server, IIS, and vSphere.
• Practical knowledge of networking fundamentals (switches, firewalls, DNS, troubleshooting).
• Experience with hybrid cloud environments, particularly Azure services.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to thrive in a player-coach role.

Preferred Experience

• Prior experience modernizing systems from legacy to modern .NET.
• Exposure to React-based UIs and integration with .NET backends.
• Familiarity with CI/CD and DevOps concepts in Azure DevOps.
• Experience guiding QA/automation strategies within small teams.
• Previous experience evolving into CTO-level leadership in a smaller company environment.