Principal Software Engineer

Unstructured builds open-source and commercial tools that enable developers to preprocess and transform unstructured data — PDFs, HTML, Word docs, images, and more — for AI/ML pipelines. Our solutions power production-grade, scalable generative AI use cases at leading enterprises.We’re a team of builders obsessed with performance, simplicity, and reliability. If you’re excited by complex systems, cutting-edge ML infrastructure, and high-impact problems, we’d love to meet you.
We are seeking a highly experienced Principal Software Engineer 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.