Principal Software Engineer

Principal Software Engineer (full stack, with a lean towards backend)

Remote

About Us

Next Ventures are partnered with an education (K-12) platform who are in scaling mode. We’re looking for a Principal Software Engineer to help us design and build the next generation of their platform.

The Role

What seperates a Principal Software Engineer from a Senior Engineer?

We are seeking candidates with a strong backend and architecture background. This role is perfect for someone who has scaled products during a high-growth phase and has engineering leadership experience—whether as a Tech Lead, Engineering Manager, or Architect.

You will drive technical strategy, influence architectural decisions, and work cross-functionally with product and engineering teams to ensure our platform scales efficiently.

Huge bonus points for candidates with an interest in education as a mission.

What You’ll Do

• Architect & Scale: Design and evolve backend systems, ensuring they are scalable, maintainable, and high-performing.
• Technical Leadership: Set best practices for backend development, API design, database management, and system architecture.
• High-Growth Focus: Guide engineering teams through rapid scaling challenges, ensuring performance, reliability, and security.
• Mentor & Influence: While this is not a people-management role, we strongly value leadership experience—you will mentor engineers and help shape our technical culture.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with Product, DevOps, and Frontend teams to deliver a seamless, efficient, and scalable system.
• Drive Innovation: Evaluate new technologies, frameworks, and methodologies to improve our tech stack.

What We’re Looking For

• 10+ years of experience in software engineering, with a strong focus on backend development.
• Expertise in scalable architectures, distributed systems, cloud infrastructure (AWS preferred)
• Deep proficiency in backend technologies while this company is focused in the C# stack, we are looking for candidates with mastery of any backend tech (e.g., Java, Go, Python, Node.js, or similar).
• Strong knowledge of databases (expertise in either SQL & NoSQL), caching strategies, and API design.
• Experience leading technical decisions and mentoring engineers.
• Bonus: Previous experience as an Engineering Manager, Tech Lead, or Architect during a high-growth phase.
• Passion for building high-performing engineering teams and products.