Principal Software Engineer

Couchbase, the operational data platform for AI, empowers businesses to succeed by bringing data to life in new ways. Major market-leading companies rely on Couchbase for mission critical operational, analytical, mobile and AI workloads. Built to replace legacy infrastructure and fragmented data services, Couchbase empowers enterprises with a unified platform architected for performance, flexibility and global scale.

With Couchbase, organizations bring their data to life, launching game‑changing customer experiences, exploring the limitless potential of AI, and seamlessly extending applications from the cloud to the edge and beyond. Couchbase’s AI‑ready technology and enterprise partnership model eliminate complexity and reduce total cost of ownership, enabling teams to stay agile, innovative and secure.

Couchbase believes data should never slow you down, but act as the foundation for your next breakthrough. Discover why Couchbase is trusted to help the world’s biggest players scale, move fast and stay resilient, no matter what’s next on their roadmap. Visit couchbase.com and follow us on LinkedIn and X.

Want to be part of our story? Apply today! 

Principal Software Engineer – Capella Control Plane Platform

Location: San Jose, California

Couchbase Capella is a fully managed Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) platform that powers mission-critical applications with a modern, distributed NoSQL database. The Control Plane Platform team builds and operates the foundational systems that deliver reliability, scalability, and seamless experiences across cloud environments.

We are seeking a Principal Software Engineer to lead the architecture of Capella’s Control Plane — the platform that orchestrates SaaS interactions with major cloud providers (AWS, GCP, Azure). In this role, you will mentor engineers, deliver core platform capabilities, and combine hands-on development with deep expertise in distributed systems and cloud architecture leadership, while contributing to the architecture and integration of state-of-the-art AI/ML knowledge and process execution into the Capella Control Plane.

Key Responsibilities

• System Design & Architecture: Define and evolve the control plane architecture for scalability, reliability, performance, and security.
• Hands-on Development: Develop and deliver production-quality Golang code for critical Capella platform services. Participate in, and help guide the team on Golang coding standards and strategies.
• Cloud Infrastructure & Networking: Architect and optimize multi-cloud deployments, networking models, VPC/VNet peering, load balancing, and secure connectivity for Capella.
• Cloud-First SaaS Expertise: Build and scale multi-tenant control plane services that orchestrate Couchbase clusters across cloud providers.
• Technical Standards: Establish and enforce coding standards with strong code reviews, CI/CD practices, and design patterns.
• Observability & Reliability: Define and implement monitoring, logging, tracing, and alerting standards for operational excellence.
• High-impact Features: Lead design and delivery of core platform capabilities such as provisioning, lifecycle management, and security controls.
• Problem Solving: Tackle complex distributed systems challenges and resolve scaling, networking, and performance bottlenecks.
• Cross-functional Collaboration: Work with product, SRE, Quality Engineering, and operations teams to align technical direction with business goals.
• Multi-geo Team Collaboration: Partner effectively with global engineering teams across geographies, driving alignment and execution.
• Mentorship & Leadership: Guide junior and mid-level engineers, conduct reviews, and set a high bar for engineering culture. Perform code reviews in your area of influence. 
• Innovation: Research and evaluate cloud-native technologies, frameworks, and architectures for Capella’s evolution. Lead the technical strategy, design, and integration of AI/ML services and foundational models into the control plane to enhance platform capabilities and execution efficiency.
• Support & Troubleshooting (Tier 3): Lead root cause analysis and deliver long-term solutions for critical production issues.
• Define and optimize processes f