Principal Software Engineer

We're looking for a Principal Software Engineer, a person trusted with our hardest, highest-leverage technical problems. This is a dual-mandate role: you are both a multiplier for the team who raises the ceiling for engineers across the org, and a high-leverage builder who still Ships.  

You'll go wherever the most important work is, from complex re-architectures of existing systems, to building ambitious new capabilities, to strengthening the foundations the whole team builds on. A lot of that is AI right now: the agent-driven experiences at the core of what we build, in a regulated insurance environment where carrier trust and compliance shape every decision. Teamwork and shared enthusiasm are a core part of our culture, which is why this role involves joining us in the Boston office 2–3 days each week. 

What You'll Do: 

• Set technical direction across domains. Define the patterns and architecture for multiple systems, make high-stakes trade-off decisions, and communicate them clearly to engineers, product, and executives.
• Work at the right altitude. Move flexibly between embedding deeply with a single team when an initiative needs your hands and operating horizontally across teams to set direction and unblock, exercising judgment and advocating for what the moment calls for.
• Technically lead complex initiatives end-to-end. Drive multi-team, long-horizon work from architecture through delivery and operational excellence, owning reliability, scale, and security of mission-critical systems.Ship as a high-leverage producer. Use modern AI development tools (e.g., Claude Code,
• Cursor, Codex) to design, prototype, and deliver real systems yourself — modeling how to build with AI at a high bar for quality, testing, and rigor. '
• Raise the bar on how we build with AI. Help engineer the practices, guardrails, and review discipline of our AI-enabled development lifecycle — so we can scale AI adoption safely, with quality improving as we go, as a regulated environment demands.
• Multiply the team. Mentor and coach engineers, set the standard for quality and design, and help the people around you get better at their craft.
• Be a trusted advisor. Serve as a go-to technical voice across engineering, and a steady, consensus-building presence when teams are stuck or the path isn't clear.
• Represent Hi Marley. Be recognized as a technical leader internally and externally, and help attract and grow great engineers. 

What We're Looking For:

• Typically 10+ years of software development experience; high-performing candidates with less experience are encouraged to apply.
• A track record of delivering large, complex systems to production at scale — defining the patterns and architecture for one or more domains, influencing technical direction across teams, and earning trust as an advisor across engineering. You identify the problems worth solving and shape and execute the work.
• Experience designing distributed architectures, ideally in the AWS ecosystem, with a strong command of principles like separation of concerns, scalability, loose coupling, and designing for failure.
• Fluency with modern AI-assisted development and with designing systems where AI and agents are first-class architectural components — not just a tool user, but someone who reasons about agent design, orchestration, configurability, and guardrails, and who rigorously reviews and verifies AI-generated work to keep the quality bar high.
• Sound judgment about building AI products responsibly in a high-trust, regulated environment, where speed is bounded by carrier trust and compliance.
• Experience with relational and document-oriented databases, including performance tuning and scaling.
• Proficiency in Node.js, TypeScript, and frontend frameworks such as React; fluency with automated testing, CI/CD, and modern code-management practices.
• A multiplier effect on those around you — the engineers and systems near you get measurably better because of how you work and mentor.
• The ability to influence without authority, build consensus, and communicate complex issues simply to any audience — from engineers to executives.
• A passion for clean code and sound design, pragmatic decision-making, and continually improving both the code and the way we work.
• At this time, we are only able to consider candidates who are currently authorized to work in the U.S. and will not require sponsorship now or in the future. 

Compensation, Benefits & Perks:
At Hi Marley, we are committed to fair and transparent pay practices. The annual base salary for this role is expected to fall within the range of [$114,200–$267,800], depending on experience, skills, qualifications, and location. Offers are determined based on these factors as well as internal peer equity. It’s most common for new hires to start near the midpoint of the range, allowing room for growth as employees develop in their role.