Principal Software Engineer

Our client is a Dubai-headquartered AI and IoT platform that helps companies manage and optimize their heavy equipment, fleets and physical operations across construction, logistics, mining and energy. Backed by Y Combinator and having raised over $35M in funding, our client works with 300+ companies globally.

They are seeking a Principal Software Engineer to join their team in Dubai.

This role is responsible for defining the services and platform framework that will impact the productivity and work of the entire tech team. The ideal candidate has a strong individual contributor (IC) mindset, extensive experience engineering scalable and maintainable SaaS platforms, and a deep understanding of modern software development best practices.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Define and design the overall architecture, services, and platform framework for firm's SaaS offerings.
• Establish best practices for system design, modularity, and maintainability to enhance engineering productivity.
• Guide the technology roadmap, ensuring scalability, security, and high availability.
• Collaborate with engineering teams to drive adoption of architectural patterns and frameworks.
• Evaluate and recommend new technologies, tools, and frameworks to improve system performance and efficiency.
• Ensure consistency in API design, data models, and microservices architecture.
• Mentor and guide software engineers, fostering a culture of technical excellence and innovation.
• Lead reviews, code audits, and system optimization initiatives.
• Balance trade-offs between performance, cost, and time-to-market to ensure the best decisions.
• Work closely with Product and Engineering leadership to align technical strategy with business goals.

Required Skills & Experience

• 10+ years of experience in software development, software engineering, or platform engineering roles.
• Proven expertise in building and scaling cloud-based SaaS platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure).
• Strong background in microservices, event-driven architecture, and distributed systems.
• Deep knowledge of modern backend technologies (Node.js, Java, Python, or Go).
• Experience with databases (SQL, NoSQL, time-series) and optimizing data models.
• Proficiency in designing and implementing API gateways, authentication, and security best practices.
• Hands-on experience with CI/CD pipelines, DevOps, and Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, Kubernetes, Helm, etc.).
• Strong understanding of observability, logging, and monitoring strategies.
• Ability to lead technical discussions, conduct architecture reviews, and drive decision-making across teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working in fast-growing SaaS environments with complex architecture.
• Knowledge of machine learning infrastructure and AI-powered applications.
• Strong focus on developer experience and productivity improvements.
• Certifications in cloud engineering (AWS & GCP).