Principal Engineer

About the role

The Principal Engineer is a senior individual contributor role at PetDesk, reporting directly to the Chief of Staff. This position provides technical leadership across high-impact initiatives, partnering closely with Engineering, Product, Operations, and business stakeholders to shape the architecture, scalability, and long-term technical strategy of our platform.

• Lead the technical vision, architecture, and long-term engineering strategy for the PetDesk platform, ensuring systems are scalable, secure, resilient, and adaptable as the business grows
• Assist with the design and evolve a platform capable of supporting integrations across dozens of third-party systems — including pharmaceutical manufacturers and clinic systems — while maintaining reliability, observability, and operational excellence
• Participate to architect data pipelines, APIs, and services that enable seamless data exchange between veterinary clinics, pet owners, drug manufacturers, and industry partners
• Partner closely with Product, Engineering, Data, and Operations to translate market opportunities and customer needs into scalable technical solutions that directly support product roadmap planning and prioritization
• Drive architectural decisions that balance speed, flexibility, maintainability, and long-term platform health in a rapidly evolving product environment
• Identify and drive operational efficiencies across the platform — working with Operations to streamline processes, reduce manual effort, and improve overall system reliability and throughput
• Oversee the end-to-end technical execution of key initiatives — managing timelines, dependencies, and cross-functional coordination to ensure on-time delivery and high-quality outcomes
• Serve as a technical point of contact for external stakeholders including third-party drug manufacturers, corporate clinic groups, and individual veterinary clinics — translating complex technical concepts into clear, business-relevant communication
• Participate with architecture reviews, conduct hands-on technical guidance sessions, and provide project-level oversight for complex initiatives spanning multiple teams and systems
• Identify and mitigate technical risks associated with third-party integrations, data quality, platform scalability, and system performance before they impact customers or partners
• Evaluate emerging technologies and industry trends related to integrations, data platforms, APIs, and distributed systems to inform technical roadmaps

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience
• 15+ years of progressive software engineering experience, with at least 3 years operating at a Staff or Principal Engineer level or equivalent technical leadership capacity
• .NET expertise as well as deep expertise designing and operating distributed systems, integration platforms, APIs, and data-intensive applications at scale
• Demonstrated experience building and supporting complex third-party integrations, preferably within healthcare, veterinary technology, fintech, SaaS, or similarly interconnected ecosystems
• Strong understanding of system architecture, event-driven design, data modeling, and modern cloud-native application development
• Demonstrated project management experience — ability to plan, track, and drive complex technical initiatives across multiple teams and stakeholders without formal PM authority or certification required
• Proven operational awareness — experience identifying inefficiencies in technical workflows or business processes and working cross-functionally to implement meaningful improvements
• Experience serving as a technical point of contact for external customers, partners, or vendors — including the ability to communicate clearly and build trust with non-technical stakeholders such as clinic operators, corporate group contacts, or pharmaceutical manufacturer partners
• Proven ability to influence technical direction across multiple teams and drive alignment without formal authority
• Exceptional communication skills with the ability to translate complex technical concepts into business impact for both technical and non-technical audiences
• Experience evaluating architectural tradeoffs and making pragmatic decisions that balance short-term business needs with long-term scalability
• Strong proficiency in modern programming languages and cloud platforms, with the ability to contribute hands-on when needed
• Self-directed and highly collaborative with a builder's mindset, strong business acumen, and a genuine passion for solving complex problems that impact real customers

Benefits

• Medical coverage for employees and dependents (80-90% covered by employer)
• Employer HSA contribution with HDHP
• 401(k) match up to 3.5%
• Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
• Dental & Vision coverage available
• Basic Life and AD&D Insurance
• Short and Long Term Disability
• 12 Paid Annual Holidays
• Paid Parental Leave
• Pawternity Leave, Financial Pet Adoption Support & Subsidized Pet Insurance
• $250 Annual Stipend for Learning and Development