Senior Principal Engineer

About Unusual

Company description here…

Job Summary

We are looking for a Senior Principal Engineer who will define the architectural vision and lead technical execution across our engineering organization. This role is ideal for a seasoned technologist who has designed, implemented, and scaled complex systems; collaborated deeply with cross-functional stakeholders; and delivered high-impact projects — including Generative AI initiatives built using open-source LLM models.

Key Responsibilities

• Architectural Leadership: Define and evolve the company’s long-term architectural vision. Provide technical direction that balances innovation, scalability, and maintainability.
• System Design and Scalability: Design, implement, and scale distributed systems and core services to handle growth in data, users, and features.
• Cross-Team Collaboration: Partner with Product, Engineering and business teams to align technical roadmaps with business objectives. Act as a trusted advisor to Engineering Managers and Staff Engineers.
• Generative AI Initiatives: Lead or contribute to projects leveraging open-source LLMs (e.g., Llama, Mistral, Falcon, or similar): own model integration, fine-tuning, and scalable deployment pipelines.
• Technical Excellence: Establish best practices for architecture reviews, design documentation, and system observability to ensure optimal performance and reliability. Drive adoption of modern development frameworks and standards.
• Hands-on Development: Write clean, efficient, and well-tested code. Contribute directly to core systems and frameworks that enable teams to move faster and deliver higher-quality software.
• Mentorship & Influence: Coach senior engineers and influence decision-making across teams through technical reviews, design sessions, and hands-on prototyping.
• Execution and Delivery: Work closely with leadership and stakeholders to turn complex ideas into reliable, production-ready systems that deliver measurable business impact.

Requirements

• 12+ years of experience in software engineering, with at least 4+ years in principal or staff-plus roles.
• Proven track record designing, implementing, and scaling distributed systems or platforms.
• Experience driving architectural initiatives across multiple teams and domains.
• Deep understanding of backend architectures, data modeling, and system reliability patterns.
• Demonstrated success in delivering GenAI or ML-driven applications using open-source LLMs and cloud-native infrastructure.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to influence technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Passion for mentorship, technical leadership, and hands-on development.