Principal Software Engineer
Job description
About the role
Principal Software Engineer, Mesh Platform
ZoomInfo seeks a Principal Software Engineer to elevate the standard of delivery for the Mesh platform. This role operates at the heart of our internal AI ecosystem, where a compact engineering group owns the entire lifecycle of a complex, distributed system. You will architect, build, and maintain core infrastructure that powers AI agents, automated workflows, and microapps used by thousands of employees. Success requires a blend of full-stack execution, operational rigor, and mentorship that amplifies the capabilities of the entire organization.
The Principal Software Engineer owns critical features spanning React frontends and cloud backend services. The position demands a balance of hands-on implementation and strategic technical leadership. You will guide system design, ensure production stability, and drive quality initiatives that prevent regressions. The work impacts users directly through support channels and indirectly through the reliability of platform capabilities.
Responsibilities
You will design and deliver features across the full technology stack, progressing from initial concept through deployment and maintenance in production environments. This includes building and enhancing foundational platform elements such as AI agent frameworks, workflow orchestration, microapp infrastructure, and integrations with large language models. A core responsibility is developing SDKs and tooling that enable other engineers to build effectively on top of Mesh. You will champion quality by instituting rigorous testing standards, code review practices, and habits that eliminate regressions before they reach users. When production issues arise, you will lead the response, performing triage and implementing fixes under pressure. Collaboration extends across teams, with direct support provided to users via Slack channels to resolve blocking issues.
Why Mesh
Joining Mesh means joining a small team where individual contributions have immediate and visible impact. Your opinions will shape platform direction and influence best practices. The environment leverages AI tools such as Claude Code and AI-assisted code review, providing a hands-on perspective into the future of engineering workflows. The problems are complex and diverse, spanning distributed systems, LLM reliability, workflow orchestration, and real-time integrations. The team moves quickly, with a constant focus on refining how work is done more intelligently.
Qualifications
Candidates must possess extensive professional experience building software systems. You bring a proven capacity to deliver reliable, scalable solutions in production settings. Full-stack proficiency with modern frontend frameworks like React and TypeScript, alongside backend service development and cloud infrastructure on GCP, is essential. You have operated in cloud-native environments, managing Kubernetes, Cloud Functions, Pub/Sub, and managed databases. A strong command of data storage technologies is required, including SQL databases like Postgres and NoSQL solutions such as MongoDB and Redis. You have owned end-to-end responsibility for production systems, including log analysis, incident response, and deploying fixes under tight deadlines. A deep commitment to software quality is demonstrated through testing strategy, rigorous code review, and proactive regression prevention. Security considerations are integrated into your design and implementation decisions. You exhibit a constructive dissent style, pushing back on ideas when necessary and committing fully to final decisions without rehashing debates. Communication is clear and precise, particularly within fast-paced, high-ownership settings.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience working with LLMs, including Claude, GPT, and Llama, to build applications atop them is valued. Familiarity with context engineering and RAG patterns that optimize retrieval and accuracy is preferred. Background with MCP or AI tool integrations that expand agent capabilities is a plus. Experience with temporal or similar workflow orchestration systems for managing long-running processes is beneficial. Knowledge of vector databases such as Pinecone or pgvector for similarity search is advantageous. Experience creating developer-facing SDKs or platform tooling that unblocks other engineers is highly relevant. Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, especially using GitHub Actions to automate testing and delivery, is also preferred.
Compensation & Location
This is a remote position based in the US with a target base salary of $244,800. Total target compensation for 2024 reflects a competitive package aligned with experience and impact.
What you'll do
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