Principal Software Architect / Principal Engineer

The Short Scoop:

My client, a major global technology-driven brand, is looking for a Principal Software Architect / Principal Engineer to shape the architectural direction of mission-critical, customer-facing platforms used across thousands of locations worldwide. This is a rare kind of role. You’ll set technical direction and influence how complex systems are designed and built from the very earliest stages of the software development lifecycle, without being buried in day-to-day coding. You’ll be the technical voice in the room when the big decisions get made, translating ambitious business goals into real, workable, scalable solutions.

Shape the architecture of mission-critical, global software platforms without giving up your hands-on technical influence.

Location: Chicago, IL
Status: Full-time, Direct Hire, Hybrid (3 days onsite, 2 days remote after onboarding)

Why You Should Apply:

• Step into a true director-level individual contributor role with executive-level influence, no direct reports, and real autonomy over technical direction.
• Shape architecture and engineering standards across multiple platforms and squads for a brand with a footprint in thousands of locations around the world.
• Work directly with senior engineering, product, and business leaders, translating technical tradeoffs into language executives and stakeholders can act on.
• Enjoy a hybrid schedule based in Chicago with little to no travel expected.
• Be the trusted final word on complex, ambiguous engineering challenges rather than getting pulled into the weeds of daily coding.
• Help shape the future of large-scale platforms through modernization, architectural leadership, and long-term technical strategy.

The Outstanding Benefits Package Includes:

• Medical
• Dental
• Vision
• Life Insurance and AD&D
• Employee Assistance Program
• Flexible Spending Accounts
• Vacation
• Paid Holidays

Compensation: $170,000 – $175,000

What You’ll Be Doing:

• Define and evolve the long-term technical and architectural direction across multiple platforms and domains, translating business strategy into reference architectures and multi-platform roadmaps.
• Lead the design of large-scale, distributed, mission-critical systems in partnership with engineering teams.
• Partner with discovery teams early in the SDLC, acting as the engineering representative in conversations with product managers and engineering managers to shape practical, scalable technical solutions before development begins.
• Provide early, high-level technical estimates to help the business understand what is possible and what it will take.
• Establish and champion pragmatic engineering and architecture standards through design reviews, architectural guidance, and technical decision records.
• Identify and resolve cross-domain architectural risks before they affect delivery, and lead root-cause analysis for major incidents to drive systemic, lasting improvements.
• Mentor senior engineers and technical leads, raising the technical judgment and systems thinking of the broader organization.

About You:

• 12+ years designing and building complex software systems.
• Experience designing large-scale, distributed, cloud-native architectures.
• Proven ability to influence technical direction across multiple engineering teams.
• Experience leading or influencing major platform modernization or enterprise transformation initiatives.
• Comfortable communicating technical concepts to executives as well as engineers.
• Hands-on knowledge of modern engineering practices, including cloud-native architectures, distributed systems, CI/CD, and software reliability.
• Passion for mentoring senior engineers and raising the technical bar across an organization.

How To Apply:

We’d love to see your resume, but we don’t need it to have a conversation. Send an email to me, Rich Bradley rich@teambradley.com and tell me why you’re interested. Or, if you do have a resume ready, apply on this site.

Setting Expectations

We’d love to help every single person who is interested and applies to this role. Unfortunately, too many people apply who don’t appear capable of doing the job. We apologize in advance, but we will not be able to respond directly to all submissions.

Sponsorship is not an option for this role.

This client is an Equal Opportunity Employer

This is NOT A REMOTE ROLE!

TBI Id No: 26-15027, Principal Software Architect / Principal Engineer