[All remote jobs](https://jobicy.com/jobs.md)[![Harness logo](https://jobicy.com/data/server-nyc0409/galaxy/mercury/2022/01/3b1ed4078f521827fd4fd3f1ead4e484.jpg)](https://jobicy.com/company/harness.md)[Harness](https://jobicy.com/company/harness.md) # Principal Software Engineer Review the role, location requirements, compensation details, and application process before deciding whether this opportunity fits your next career move. [Apply for this job](#job-application)[View company](https://jobicy.com/company/harness.md)ShareRemote from[USA](https://jobicy.com/job-region/usa.md)SalaryUSD 204k–255k / yrDepartment[Software Engineering](https://jobicy.com/categories/engineering.md)EmploymentFull TimeExperienceSeniorPublished20 Oct 2026Apply before19 Nov 2026Listing views48Application actions5Application toolkit ## Make your next move. Prepare your resume, explore your fit, and draft a cover letter for this opportunity. AI Summary ## The role, at a glance. Harness is hiring a Principal Software Engineer for its Software Engineering Insights product, which integrates with developer tools and processes high-volume SDLC data. The role centers on designing, building, deploying, and operating scalable Java backend services in distributed cloud environments. The engineer will own critical system components, produce technical specifications, review code, and troubleshoot production issues with SRE and DevOps partners. Candidates need 12+ years of experience with highly scalable Java applications, relational databases, and resilient distributed systems. The position is remote within the United States, with periodic travel required. ## Role DNA A quick view of the complexity, pace, ownership and collaboration implied by the job description. ### Job Complexity 5/5EasyHard ### Pace & Pressure 4/5RelaxedFast-paced ### Autonomy Level 5/5GuidedFull ownership ### Communication Load 4/5IndependentCollaborative AI insightThis is a principal-level role requiring deep ownership of large-scale distributed Java systems, production troubleshooting, architecture, and technical leadership. The high-volume data domain and short release cycles increase the technical and operational complexity. ## Core skills Skills and capabilities most closely associated with this opportunity. [Java](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=Java.md)[Distributed systems](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=Distributed%20systems.md)[Backend development](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=Backend%20development.md)[System design](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=System%20design.md)[Scalable architectures](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=Scalable%20architectures.md)[MySQL](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=MySQL.md)[PostgreSQL](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=PostgreSQL.md)[SQL performance tuning](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=SQL%20performance%20tuning.md)[Elasticsearch](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=Elasticsearch.md)[Cloud computing](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=Cloud%20computing.md)[Docker](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=Docker.md)[CI/CD](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=CICD.md)[Production troubleshooting](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=Production%20troubleshooting.md)[Code review](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=Code%20review.md)[Agile development](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=Agile%20development.md) Sample interview questionsHow would you design a backend service that ingests millions of events from tools such as Jira and GitHub while keeping processing reliable and scalable?I would separate ingestion, durable buffering, processing, and serving layers. Events would be validated and written to a partitioned message stream, processed by idempotent consumers with retry and dead-letter handling, and stored in purpose-built data stores for operational and analytical queries. I would define delivery semantics, observability, backpressure controls, and replay procedures early so the platform can recover safely from partial failures. Describe an approach to diagnosing a latency regression in a distributed Java service after a release. I would first compare service-level indicators before and after the release, including latency percentiles, error rates, saturation, JVM metrics, and downstream dependency timings. Distributed traces and structured logs would help isolate whether the regression is caused by application code, database queries, thread pools, network calls, or infrastructure. I would mitigate customer impact through rollback, feature flags, or capacity adjustments, then validate the root cause with a focused load test and a permanent regression guardrail. How do you approach SQL query tuning for a high-volume product workload? I begin with the actual query plan and workload characteristics rather than adding indexes blindly. I check selectivity, join order, missing or ineffective indexes, unnecessary columns, lock behavior, and data distribution, then test improvements against representative data. For sustained scale, I also consider caching, read replicas, partitioning, pre-aggregation, or changing the data model when query-level tuning alone is insufficient. What practices would you use to maintain quality while delivering in short release cycles? I would use small, reversible changes protected by automated unit, integration, and contract tests. Feature flags, progressive rollout, peer review, production monitoring, and clear ownership make releases safer without slowing delivery. I also treat incidents and escaped defects as inputs for improving test coverage, operational runbooks, and engineering standards. How do you balance principal-level technical leadership with hands-on implementation? I focus on the highest-leverage technical risks: architecture boundaries, reliability, performance, and decisions that affect multiple teams. I remain hands-on with critical designs, prototypes, reviews, and difficult production issues, while enabling other engineers through clear standards and context. Success means both delivering durable systems and raising the team's ability to make strong decisions independently. Opportunity details ## About this role. Harness is the AI Software Delivery Platform company, led by technologist and entrepreneur Jyoti Bansal (founder of AppDynamics, acquired by Cisco for $3.7B). Harness has raised approximately $570M in funding and is valued at $5.5B, backed by leading investors including Goldman Sachs, Menlo Ventures, IVP, Unusual Ventures, Citi Ventures, and more. As AI accelerates code creation, the real bottleneck has shifted to everything after the code – testing, deployments, application security, reliability, compliance, and cost optimization. Harness brings AI and automation to this “outer loop,” helping teams ship software faster while maintaining security and governance throughout the entire software delivery lifecycle. Powered by Harness AI and the Software Delivery Knowledge Graph, the Harness Platform applies deep context and intelligent automation across the software delivery lifecycle with governance and policy-driven controls embedded throughout the platform. Over the past year, Harness powered over 185M deployments, 82M builds, 18T flag evaluations, 8M security scans, 9.1B optimized tests, 3T protected API calls, and helped manage $2.8B in cloud spend — enabling customers like United Airlines, Morningstar, and Choice Hotels to accelerate releases by up to 75%, reduce cloud costs by up to 60%, and achieve 10x DevOps efficiency. With a global team across 26 offices and 27 countries, Harness is shaping the future of AI software delivery — and we’re looking for exceptional talent to help us move even faster. ### Position Summary Harness [Software Engineering Insights (SEI)](https://www.harness.io/products/software-engineering-insights) is where engineering meets engineering intelligence. As part of this team, you’ll work on a deeply technical product that connects to 40+ developer tools like Jira and GitHub, processes millions of events, and turns raw SDLC data into actionable metrics. This is a product that engineers build for engineers, where you’ll see your work directly impact how thousands of developers build software. Expect challenges in data modeling, systems design, developer UX, and secure cloud integrations — all to help engineers and leaders build faster, better, and smarter. ### About The Role * Design, develop, deploy and maintain critical software in a fast-paced quality conscious Java environment. * Author software functional specifications and design documents for features developed. * Quickly understand complex systems/code and own key pieces of the system, including the delivered quality * Work in an agile environment, using iterative development cycles and a short customer feedback loop * Design and implementation of scalable backend software solutions * Diagnose and troubleshoot complex problems in a distributed computing environment. * Perform peer reviews of specifications, design, and code * Quickly understand complex systems/code and own key pieces of the system, including the delivered quality * Work alongside Site Reliability Engineers/DevOps and cross functional teams to deploy software or diagnose/troubleshoot any production related issues ### About You * 12+ years of experience developing highly scalable, distributed applications, products, and backend services using Java * A desire to build products that solve complex technical problems for end users * Experience with relational databases like MySQL, PostgreSQL * Experience with SQL query tuning, performance optimizations is a plus * Experience with search frameworks like Elasticsearch, SOLR is a plus * Experience with applications hosted on AWS/Azure/GCP is a plus * Familiarity with Docker and CI/CD processes is a plus * Deep understanding of how distributed resilient software is built and deployed * Excellent problem solving and debugging skills * Experience working in short release cycles Ready to Build Something Engineers Love. This is your chance to shape the systems that shape how software gets built. Join Harness today! ### Work Location Bay Area or Remote in the U.S. with periodic travel required ### What You Will Have At Harness * Competitive salary * Comprehensive healthcare benefits * Flexible Spending Account (FSA) * Employee Assistance Program (EAP) * Flexible Time Off and Parental Leave * Quarterly Harness TGIF-Off / 4 days * Monthly, quarterly, and annual social and team-building events * Recharge & Reset Program * Monthly internet reimbursement * Commuter benefits Factors that may be used to determine your actual pay rate include your specific skills, experience, qualifications, location, and comparison to other employees already in this role. In addition to the base salary, certain roles may qualify for a performance-based incentive and/or equity, with eligibility depending on the position. These rewards are based on a combination of company performance and individual achievements.The Hiring Range For This Position Is $150,000 – $226,000. A valid authorization to work in the U.S. is required Pay transparency $204,000—$255,000 USD ### Harness in the news: * [Accelerating Our Mission to Bring AI to Everything After Code](https://www.harness.io/blog/240m-financing-to-bring-ai-to-everything-after-code) * [Goldman Sachs leads investment in software delivery startup Harness at $5.5 billion valuation](https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/11/harness-is-worth-5point5-billion-in-round-led-by-goldman-sachs.html) * [How Harness runs 16 “startups within a startup” at scale | Jyoti Bansal](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvOYXKAyAqs) * [Harness Research Shows AI Visibility Crisis Fueling Security Nightmare](https://www.digit.fyi/ai-visibility-crisis-fuelling-security-nightmare/) * [Harness has been named to the Inc. Power Partner list for software delivery success](https://www.harness.io/blog/we-made-inc-s-2025-power-partners-list-again---heres-why-it-matters) All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex or national origin. At Harness, we care about your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal data. For additional information on this topic, you can visit our privacy Portal: [https://harness-privacy.relyance.ai/](https://harness-privacy.relyance.ai/) Note on Fraudulent Recruiting/Offers We have become aware that there may be fraudulent recruiting attempts being made by people posing as representatives of Harness. These scams may involve fake job postings, unsolicited emails, or messages claiming to be from our recruiters or hiring managers. Please note, we do not ask for sensitive or financial information via chat, text, or social media, and any email communications will come from the domain @harness.io. Additionally, Harness will never ask for any payment, fee to be paid, or purchases to be made by a job applicant. All applicants are encouraged to apply directly to our open jobs via our website. Interviews are generally conducted via Zoom video conference unless the candidate requests other accommodations. If you believe that you have been the target of an interview/offer scam by someone posing as a representative of Harness, please do not provide any personal or financial information and contact us immediately at [security@harness.io](mailto:security@harness.io). You can also find additional information about this type of scam and report any fraudulent employment offers via the Federal Trade Commission’s website ([https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/job-scams)](https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/job-scams)), or you can contact your local law enforcement agency. 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