Principal Software Engineer

About the Role 

Bluestaq is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to serve as an org-level technical leader responsible for setting technical direction across significant portions of Bluestaq's software ecosystem. You'll define reference architectures, tackle the company's most complex engineering challenges, and drive transformational changes that shape how Bluestaq builds and operates software in support of national security and defense missions. 

Why This Role Matters 

Principal Software Engineers define 'how we build' at Bluestaq for entire classes of systems. Your architectural decisions, reference implementations, and technical strategies become the patterns that dozens of engineers follow across multiple products and programs. You translate mission requirements and business strategy into durable technical direction, and you ensure that the most complex, high-stakes technical problems receive the depth of thinking they deserve. The work you do at this level has a shelf life measured in years, not sprints. 

Key Responsibilities 

• Own technical strategy for large segments of the Bluestaq product and platform or for major mission-critical system areas 
• Define reference architectures and engineering patterns that multiple teams adopt (standardized microservice patterns, shared UI frameworks, cross-cutting data contracts, API standards) 
• Tackle the company's most complex technical problems: tricky scalability challenges, deep interoperability issues between systems, and highly complex distributed workflows 
• Evaluate and guide adoption of major technologies, frameworks, and architectural approaches with long-term implications for the platform 
• Ensure technical decisions support reliability, security, and performance at scale across the full product portfolio 
• Partner closely with senior engineering leadership, product management, and program management to shape roadmaps and align technical investment with mission priorities 
• Operate with strategic autonomy within your domain: set technical direction rather than executing it, while remaining grounded in delivery realities 
• Delegate implementation details to Staff and Senior Staff engineers while staying sufficiently engaged to keep designs sound and on track 
• Take ownership of the long-term health and evolution of key architectural components and platform foundations 
• Mentor Staff and Senior Staff engineers into broader-scope technical leaders capable of owning major domains independently 
• Translate mission and business requirements into technical strategies, architecture principles, and engineering investment priorities 
• Lead trade studies and technical decisions on new technologies, frameworks, and architectural strategies with cross-team impact 

Required Qualifications 

• Master-level technical expertise in one or more major software engineering domains (e.g., distributed systems, data-intensive applications, real-time systems, complex UI architectures) with strong breadth across adjacent areas 
• Demonstrated ability to define technical strategy and reference architectures that are successfully adopted across multiple engineering teams over multiple years 
• Extensive experience leading the technical direction of large, complex software systems from initial concept through multi-year operation and evolution 
• Strong background in evaluating and adopting new technologies, frameworks, and architectural approaches at organizational scale—including build vs. buy and platform investment decisions 
• Proven ability to translate business and mission requirements into durable technical decisions, engineering principles, and architectural standards 
• Track record of successfully mentoring and developing Staff and Senior Staff engineers into broader technical leaders 
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills: ability to present technical strategy clearly to engineering leadership, program management, and non-technical executive stakeholders 
• Experience designing systems that meet strict reliability, security, and compliance requirements in production environments 

Preferred Qualifications 

• History of defining company-wide engineering standards, reference architectures, or platform strategies that persist across product generations and leadership transitions 
• Experience leading technology evaluations, major architectural transitions, or build-vs-buy decisions at enterprise scale 
• Deep knowledge of DoD or national security software requirements, security frameworks (RMF, FedRAMP, NIST 800-53, STIG), and classified system development practices 
• Background in systems-of-systems integration, multi-program technical alignment, or cross-organizational engineering governance 
• Published technical work, patents, or recognized external contributions in relevant software engineering domains 
• Experience advising senior leadership on technology investment priorities, platform strategy, or engineering organization design 
• History of building high-performing engineering cultures through strategic hiring, talent development, and technical community investment 

Required Experience and Education: 

• PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field and 10+ years of software engineering or related experience, OR 
• Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field and 12+ years of software engineering or related experience, OR 
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field and 14+ years of software engineering or related experience, OR 
• Associate degree in a related field and 16+ years of software engineering or related experience, OR 
• High School Diploma/GED and 18+ years of software engineering or related experience. 

You use modern AI tools with judgment: integrating them into workflows where they're impactful, reviewing their outputs, and handling proprietary or sensitive data responsibly.