Principal Product Engineer

Description: 

We're seeking a Principal Product Engineer who lives and breathes the craft of building exceptional AI-integrated solutions. This is not a role for someone looking for comfortable boundaries. We need someone who is genuinely haunted by the possibilities of what we could build, who loses sleep over architectural decisions, and who ties their identity to the quality and impact of their work.

You'll join a contract leadership team as a key voice in shaping technical direction, product strategy, and team evolution. You'll engage in passionate, sometimes heated debates about everything from system architecture to team structure, from code quality to customer impact. Your obsession with excellence will push our team of 25+ developers to constantly question whether we're building the right things in the right way.

This role is for someone who sees the interconnectedness of all parts of our stack - from user research to infrastructure, from AI integration to performance optimization. You'll be expected to have strong opinions loosely held, challenge the status quo relentlessly, and help us build products that create meaningful impact in the cybersecurity AI space.

Salary range: $235,000-255,000
Disclaimer: Salary for this position, along with additional compensation options, will be determined on an individual basis following the interview process, considering various factors such as years of experience, skills, education/certifications, contract specifications, market conditions, etc. 
 

Responsibilities:

• Participate actively in leadership team discussions, bringing technical depth and product intuition to debates about direction, project prioritization, and strategic decisions.
• Drive architectural decisions across our full stack, ensuring coherent design from data infrastructure through AI integration to user interfaces.
• Challenge existing approaches and push for continuous improvement in code quality, system design, and product excellence.
• Connect technical decisions to business outcomes, ensuring every project builds toward a larger vision.
• Mentor and influence the broader engineering team through technical leadership and by setting an uncompromising standard for quality.
• Engage directly with customers when needed to understand deep technical requirements and translate them into product direction.
• Own the technical narrative of how our projects interconnect and build upon each other to create compounding value.
• Lead by example in writing code that demonstrates best practices while maintaining velocity.
• Foster and participate in intense technical debates that push the team toward better solutions.

Skills Requirements:

• 12+ years of software engineering experience with demonstrated impact across the full stack
• Deep expertise in at least two areas of our stack (backend, frontend, data, infrastructure, AI/ML) with working knowledge across all areas.
• Proven track record of designing and implementing complex systems that scale.
• Experience integrating AI/ML capabilities into production systems.
• Strong opinions about software architecture, development practices, and team dynamics, backed by real-world experience.
• Exceptional communication skills - able to articulate technical vision to both engineers and non-technical stakeholders.
• History of pushing teams beyond their comfort zones while maintaining morale and productivity.
• Demonstrated ability to connect technical decisions to business value and user impact.
• Experience with modern development practices including CI/CD, infrastructure as code, and observability.
• Comfort with ambiguity and ability to drive clarity through chaos.

Nice to Haves:

• Experience in cyber domain.
• Track record of building and scaling AI-powered products from conception to production.
• Previous experience in a principal or staff engineering role at a high-growth company.
• Contributions to open source projects or thought leadership in the engineering community.
• Experience building and leading distributed or remote engineering teams.
• Background in both startup and enterprise environments.
• Published papers, talks, or blogs demonstrating deep technical thinking.
• Experience with specific AI frameworks and tools relevant to cybersecurity applications.

Experience Requirement: 

• 12 yrs. with a B.S. in a technical discipline or 4 additional yrs. in place of B.S.

Clearance Requirement: 

• Active TS/SCI with a polygraph

Referrals & Inquiries

Do you know a cleared professional seeking to advance their career? Interested in earning some extra cash? If so, refer them to us with their name and contact details, and you could be eligible for a referral bonus of up to $10,000 for each successful hire.

Not seeing the right position right now? Reach out to us, and we’ll notify you as new contracts and opportunities become available!