Principal Software Dev Engineer

Yahoo · United States View Company Details

Full-Time Hybrid Software Engineering Executive

Salary $143,625 – $299,375

Location United States

Experience Executive

Job Type Full-Time, Hybrid

Match Score 86%

Posted 3 weeks ago

Job ID #1226

A Little About Us

Yahoo’s Media Platform team enables core media business capabilities across Yahoo products in News, Finance, and Sports. We provide products and services to help each product enable use cases faster and cost-effectively. As a result, they can leverage advanced capabilities that any independent vertical would not be able to buy or build. The Content Management team in the Media Platform aims to create the best experience for content creators, from onboarding to audience engagement. As a Principal Software Dev Engineer you will serve as the technical lead for a full-stack engineering team, driving the strategic vision and execution of cutting-edge solutions, for example integrating AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) to enhance content creation and enrichments. Collaborate with Product and Business leaders to deliver scalable, reusable components. These include microservices and cloud-native solutions. In addition, you will work closely with Data Science and Engineering teams to leverage data-driven insights and machine learning to continuously optimize user experiences. This role offers an exciting opportunity to leverage your expertise in agile methodologies and cloud technologies, while building strong cross-functional partnerships and leading impactful initiatives.

A Lot About You

We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced Principal Software Dev Engineer to act as the technical lead for one of our content management engineering teams. In this role, you will set the technical direction for the team, break down complex initiatives into executable work, and ensure the squad delivers high‑quality software on time. You will harness your deep expertise in full-stack development to drive software solutions, and collaborate closely with stakeholders to ensure projects exceed expectations. You will be diving into cutting-edge technologies, leveraging AI and Large Language Models (LLM), and know how to apply those principles into existing and new architectures. You will collaborate with cross-functional leaders in Product, Design, and Business to drive strategic goals and deliver impactful results. You have a proven track record of leading functional teams or complex initiatives across multiple workstreams, driving technical decisions and delivering outcomes that impact multiple products or customer experiences. You have an enthusiasm for leading teams to build innovative software solutions, setting a high technical bar and coaching other engineers to meet it, and are excited about building a new platform. While this is an individual contributor role with no direct reports, you will operate as the technical leader for the team and a key partner to the engineering manager on roadmap, execution, and team health.

Responsibilities

Serve as the technical lead for the team, defining and communicating the technical vision, aligning it with product goals, and ensuring the squad delivers high‑quality, maintainable solutions on schedule.
Own the end‑to‑end execution of complex initiatives: break down ambiguous problem spaces, create clear technical plans, delegate work across engineers, and drive projects from design through production launch and iteration.
Mentor and coach engineers on the squad, raising the technical bar through design reviews, pairing, and feedback on code quality, testing, observability, and operational excellence.
Expected to lead the team through complex projects from start to finish, removing ambiguity, aligning engineers and stakeholders, and driving clear technical decisions, proactively identifying risks, unblocking the team, and making clear trade‑off decisions.
Oversee the technical design, development, and testing of new features for our publishing and content management systems, ensuring they are scalable, secure, and performant.
Develop and maintain strong relationships with internal stakeholders, including Product Management, Design, and other Engineering teams, acting as the primary technical point of contact for your team.

Requirements

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science or related field or equivalent work experience
Ability to implement solutions across the entire tech stack
Excellent communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to other engineers and collaborate effectively with them
Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to think strategically and analytically
Experience in AWS, Python, and React
Experience with Agile software development methodologies and deep understanding of software engineering principles
Demonstrated experience leading engineering teams or squads as a senior or principal individual contributor, including driving technical decisions and aligning multiple engineers around a shared plan.
Proven track record of mentoring and leveling up other engineers, influencing engineering culture, and establishing best practices across a team or organization (e.g., design standards, testing strategy, observability, operational excellence).

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