Principal Software Engineer

Overview

Unstructured is making it possible for organizations to continuously harvest their human-generated data and use it in conjunction with LLMs to power a range of workflows. We make it effortless to connect to any in-house or third party models and deliver that data to any downstream location.

We do two things better than anyone: file transformation and data orchestration. Unstructured’s open source package has been downloaded more than 12 million times, and is used by more than 50k companies, including nearly half of the Fortune 500. In the last two quarters thousands of users have signed up for Unstructured’s commercial products with several thousand currently on the waitlist for our ETL platform.

The Role

We are seeking a highly experienced Principal Software Development Engineer (SDE) to lead and influence the technology direction for our organization. As a key player, you will own organization-level architecture and product solutions, mentoring our engineering teams while solving complex software problems. You will be instrumental in aligning teams toward coherent, scalable designs and mitigating long-term risks.

Key Responsibilities:

• Architectural Leadership: Own and drive the architecture and design of key product solutions across the organization. Influence and set the technology direction, ensuring alignment with business goals.
• Strategic Influence: Lead strategically important projects that involve multiple teams. Provide technical direction and mentorship, fostering a culture of high-quality software development.
• Complex Problem Solving: Address significantly complex, persistent, or ingrained software challenges. Develop innovative solutions that impact the entire organization and set new standards of excellence.
• Software Development: Actively engage in the full software development lifecycle, including design, development, testing, deployment, and operations. Deliver high-quality, production-ready code that is both strategic and tactical.
• Mentorship & Collaboration: Provide mentorship and guidance to engineers across the organization. Act as a force multiplier, enhancing the capabilities of the teams you influence.
• Cross-Team Alignment: Align teams toward simple, coherent designs that meet business and technical objectives. Resolve escalations and proactively mitigate risks, particularly those involving long-term one-way doors.
• Organizational Impact: Shape how the organization operates by influencing software offerings and architectures. Ensure that your work has a lasting impact on both current and future projects.

Qualifications:

• Experience: 10+ years of software development experience, with a proven track record of leading and delivering complex, high-impact projects.
• Technical Expertise: Deep knowledge of software architecture, design patterns, and development best practices. Proficiency in multiple programming languages and frameworks.
• Leadership: Demonstrated ability to influence senior leadership and drive cross-team initiatives. Experience in mentoring and developing technical talent.
• Problem Solving: Exceptional problem-solving skills with the ability to tackle complex, persistent issues.
• Communication: Strong verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Adaptability: Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment where business problems and architectural strategies may not yet be defined.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Proficiency with Python
• Experience in leading large-scale, multi-team projects.
• Expertise in cloud-based architectures and services.
• Background in mentoring and growing engineering teams.

Why Join Us?

• Impactful Work: Play a key role in shaping the future of our organization and its products.
• Innovation: Work on challenging problems that require innovative solutions.
• Growth: Opportunities to grow your career in a dynamic and fast-paced environment.
• Collaboration: Join a team that values collaboration, mentorship, and continuous learning.