Principal Software Engineer

About Zipline

Do you want to change the world? Zipline is on a mission to transform the way goods move. Our aim is to solve the world’s most urgent and complex access challenges by building, manufacturing and operating the first instant delivery and logistics system that serves all humans equally, wherever they are. From powering Rwanda’s national blood delivery network and Ghana’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution to providing on-demand home delivery for Walmart, to enabling healthcare providers to bring care directly to U.S. homes, we are transforming the way things move for businesses, governments and consumers.

The technology is complex but the idea is simple: a teleportation service that delivers what you need, when you need it. Through our technology which includes robotics and autonomy, we are decarbonizing delivery, decreasing road congestion, and reducing fossil fuel consumption and air pollution, while providing equitable access to billions of people and building a more resilient global supply chain.

Join Zipline and help us to make good on our promise to build an equitable and more resilient global supply chain for billions of people.

A Principal Engineer at Zipline is a technical leadership role with organization-wide impact. Beyond the systems you will own, you’ll be expected and empowered to drive the engineering culture forward by finding smarter ways for the team to design, develop, test, and release software.

Our web backend is responsible for services across order processing and fleet management. This spans from real-time mission-critical communications to our autonomous network of drones, to 3D mapping and online routing systems, to integrations with some of the world’s largest hospital systems and retail giants.

In this role, you’ll be responsible for making architectural decisions at the system level, e.g. how services should be split, how to contain faults, and our multi-region strategy. You’ll also have opportunities to lead the team on large technical undertakings, such as language migration from python to golang.

As one of the most senior software engineers at Zipline, you’ll be expected to bring a mentor’s mindset, a self-starter attitude, and an ability to lead by example of what great engineering looks like.

What You'll Do

• Develop and maintain robust backend services using Golang, Rust, and Python, ensuring high reliability and performance.
• Design and implement solutions for large-scale distributed systems, focusing on scalability, latency, and fault tolerance.
• Architect and develop systems based on event-driven paradigms using technologies like Kafka to handle real-time data processing.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to integrate backend systems with other company products and third-party services.
• Act as a cultural pillar of best practices in code health, testing, and maintainability.
• Analyze and improve efficiency, scalability, and stability of various system resources.
• Mentor junior engineers, fostering an environment of growth and development.

What You'll Bring

• 12+ years of experience in software development with a strong background in backend technologies like Golang, Rust, or Python.
• Proven track record of designing and implementing high-performance distributed systems in a cloud environment.
• Previous experience owning engineering-wide development resources such as build systems, repo toolchains, coding standards, design standards, test environments, and critical toolchains.
• A strong sense of ownership and drive.
• Ability to communicate and implement change across an engineering team.

Why Join Us?

At Zipline, you’ll have the opportunity to shape the future of autonomous delivery and impact the lives of billions worldwide. We offer a supportive team environment, competitive salaries, and benefits, as well as the unique challenge of solving global problems with cutting-edge technology.

Zipline is committed to diversity and inclusion and we encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply. If there are any accommodations you need during the application process, please let us know.

What Else You Need to Know   

The starting cash range for this role is $200,000 - 240,000. Please note that this is a target, starting cash range for a candidate who meets the minimum qualifications for this role. The final cash pay for this role will depend on a variety of factors, including a specific candidate's experience, qualifications, skills, working location, and projected impact. The total compensation package for this role may also include: equity compensation; discretionary annual or performance bonuses; sales incentives; benefits such as medical, dental and vision insuran