Principal Software Engineer

About the role

The role focuses on building and sustaining the technical foundations that enable neuroscience-informed AGI research. You will operate at the intersection of large-scale infrastructure and brain-inspired modeling. The position exists to accelerate ambitious research with minimal operational constraints.

Software engineers turn product ideas into working code. Engineers work in small teams, review each other's work, and ship in small batches. Most teams follow agile practices such as sprints and daily standups. Engineers also write tests, fix bugs, and improve performance. The field values clear communication as much as technical skill. Engineers spend part of every week on planning, code review, and debugging, not just writing new code. The ability to explain a technical decision in plain words separates strong engineers from the rest.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Design and implement high-performance infrastructure for training large models and executing complex simulations, enabling ambitious research workflows.
• Create and refine custom reinforcement learning environments guided by neuroscience principles, supporting experiments that mirror brain architecture.
• Establish and enforce coding standards that prioritize cleanliness, performance, and reliability, raising the baseline for research-oriented software.
• Convert experimental prototypes into robust, scalable production systems, ensuring research ideas can operate at scale without re-implementation.
• Investigate and resolve deep technical obstacles, spanning low-level performance tuning and high-level architectural decisions, to remove barriers for researchers.

Requirements

• Hold a degree as evidence of formal technical training and foundational knowledge.
• Demonstrate a consistent record of delivering clean, maintainable, and well-tested code under aggressive timelines.
• Show experience architecting complex systems from the ground up, with decisions that withstand long-term research demands.
• Exhibit rapid mastery in distributed systems and related domains, then quickly extend that understanding into unfamiliar neuroscience contexts.
• Lead the resolution of severe engineering challenges, including large-scale distributed infrastructure and low-level system optimization.

Practical notes

This role is based in Emeryville, California, requiring in-person presence at the headquarters. Visa sponsorship may be considered for eligible candidates. Typical interview steps

Hiring for engineering roles usually starts with a recruiter screen, followed by one or two technical rounds. Candidates often solve a coding problem, discuss past projects, and answer system design questions. Some loops include a take-home task. Final rounds typically cover team fit and give candidates a chance to ask questions. Interviewers look for how you break down an unfamiliar problem, not just whether you reach the answer. Practicing a few problems aloud and reviewing your own past projects are the best preparation.

Good to know

The role centers on systems programming and infrastructure design at scale. Core tools include distributed computing frameworks and simulation platforms. Fluency in learning new domains quickly is essential. The environment emphasizes research impact over rigid process. Long-term architectural thinking shapes project success.

Questions to ask

Good questions to ask the employer in the interview: what does success look like in the first six months, how is the team structured, what is the current biggest challenge, and how are decisions made. Asking about growth paths and the review process is also well received. Employers expect questions, and good ones show preparation.

Career growth

Engineering careers usually progress from individual contributor to senior, staff, and principal levels. Some engineers move into management and lead teams of five to twenty people. Others stay on the technical track. Growth follows demonstrated impact, not tenure alone. A typical engineering ladder has clear levels with defined expectations for scope, quality, and mentorship. Moving up usually requires owning outcomes end to end rather than completing assigned tickets.

About the company

Astera is a private foundation on a mission to steer science and technology toward an abundant future for all. We believe the coming years will bring an era of unprecedented scientific and technological advancement as exponential progress in AI converges with central advances in other fields to dramatically accelerate innovation.