Principal Platform Software Engineer, C++

The Elevator Pitch

Are you looking for a role that has meaning and purpose on a team that is crafting the future of security? Evolv's R&D team is looking for an experienced and innovative principal software engineer to provide technical leadership, improve software engineering practices, and be hands on with our team of SW engineers with expertise in embedded, real-time, and computer vision. In Evolv''s fast-paced development environment the R&D team is continuously innovating new features and integrating complementary technologies into our products.

Success in the Role: Performance Outcomes

In the first 30 days, you will:

• Demonstrate technical depth and earn the respect of senior developers
• Mentor junior developers
• Review code and architecture during the first 30 days
• Submit PRs for small changes from day 15
• Pair with junior developers on a regular basis

Within 90 days you will:

• Submit production-quality pull requests (PRs) for small to medium-sized features or improvements by day 30-45.
• Identify and resolve at least one performance bottleneck or technical debt issue in the existing codebase.
• Actively participate in architecture and design discussions, contributing ideas and identifying potential risks or improvements
• Review current product roadmap and outline a platform strategy across products to scale as the product families grow and to ensure the products are built on a common reliable and robust software foundation
• Evaluate current CI/CD and build automation processes; propose at least one improvement or optimization.
• Familiarize yourself with the full software development lifecycle at Evolv, including DevOps, QA, and hardware integration touchpoints

Within 12 months, you will:

• Lead the design and implementation of a major new multi-product software platform, from concept to deployment.
• Translate complex mathematical algorithms into optimized, production-ready C++ code.
• Drive performance benchmarking and optimization initiatives, improving system efficiency and scalability.
• Serve as a go-to technical mentor for the C++ team, helping to elevate the overall engineering skill level.
• Lead at least one internal technical workshop or knowledge-sharing session.
• Influence and improve cross-functional workflows, particularly around testing, deployment, and system reliability.
• Help define and enforce coding standards, design patterns, and best practices across the team.
• Provide input into long-term architectural decisions and product roadmap planning.
• Contribute to a culture of continuous improvement, innovation, and psychological safety.

What You''ll Do

• Maintain and improve existing C++ codebase with a focus on performance, reliability, and scalability.
• Identify and resolve software defects and performance bottlenecks.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including SQA, DevOps, and hardware engineers.
• Participate in code reviews and mentor junior developers.
• Contribute to system design and architecture discussions.
• Support build automation and CI/CD pipelines.
• Translate mathematical algorithms into optimal C++ code.
• Build C++ software components that follow industry-standard design patterns, development methodologies, and deployment models
• Design and implement real-time systems with deterministic performance and low-latency requirements.
• Develop multithreaded applications using modern C++ concurrency primitives, thread synchronization, and lock-free programming.
• Integrate ML inference engines into fast-path pipelines with minimal latency impact while optimizing control software for embedded systems and real-time hardware interfaces.
• Perform technical performance benchmarking and analyses to support engineering decisions.
• Write clean, well-documented, and testable code.
• Maintain quality throughout software development through peer code review, unit and functional testing.

Leadership, Team Structure & Culture

You will be joining the C++ Software Development Team. This role reports to the VP of Software Engineering and working alongside a team of 15 talented engineers.

Our culture is built on the belief that exceptional products are created by teams that trust one another, challenge ideas respectfully, and remain committed to continuous growth. We are guided by our core values: Do the Right Thing, Always, Put People First, Win Together, Own It, and Be Bold, Stay Curious. These values shape how we make decisions, collaborate across teams, and deliver technology that drives meaningful business impact.

This is a team that enjoys solving hard problems together. We celebrate wins, learn openly from setbacks, and believe that high performance and having fun are not mutually exclusive. If you''re energized by mentoring others, shaping technical direction, and building scalable platforms in a collaborative environment, you''ll thrive here.

Where is the role located?

Our headquarters (and this role) is located in Waltham, Massachusetts. As a member of the Engineering team we expect you to come into the office daily, but we understand that things come up-you can work remotely from time to time for one-off needs.

Compensation and Transparency Statement

The base salary range for this full-time position is $148,000 - $240,000. In addition to base salary, this role offers a competitive target bonus, equity, and a comprehensive benefits package. This range reflects our commitment to pay transparency and equity, in alignment with applicable state laws. Our compensation ranges are determined based on factors such as role, level, location, market benchmarks, and internal equity. The posted range represents the good-faith estimate of what we expect to pay for this role across U.S. locations. Actual compensation within the range will be based on the candidate's skills, experience, education, and geographic location.

In accordance with state and local pay transparency laws-including those in California, Colorado, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and others-we disclose salary ranges in all job postings and provide additional information upon request.

During the hiring process, your recruiter will share:

• The specific salary range for your preferred location
• A general overview of our benefits and equity offerings
• Insights into how compensation decisions are made, including factors that influence starting pay

We are committed to fair pay practices, and we regularly review our compensation programs to ensure they are competitive, equitable, and aligned with our values.