Principal​/Software Engineer

We are looking for a Principal/Staff Backend Software Engineer to lead the technical strategy, architecture, and implementation of our large-scale AI chat agent platform. This system is designed to support 20+ million users globally, making it one of the most ambitious backend initiatives at Nexthink.

As a Principal/Staff Engineer, you will go beyond implementation: you will set technical direction, influence cross-team design decisions, and serve as a trusted advisor to both engineering leadership and product. You’ll tackle problems of scale, reliability, and performance while partnering with AI/ML, Infra, and Security teams to build production‑ready AI experiences.

This is a high‑impact, high‑ownership role where you’ll be entrusted to make foundational architectural decisions and mentor senior engineers, ensuring Nexthink’s AI systems are built to scale with the future.

• Define and drive technical vision and architectural strategy for the AI chat backend platform.
• Lead design of highly scalable, low‑latency, distributed systems supporting 20M+ global users.
• Partner with product, infra, and AI/ML teams to align engineering strategy with business objectives.
• Provide technical leadership across multiple teams, influencing design patterns, coding standards, and best practices.
• Architect and deliver fault‑tolerant APIs and services capable of handling large‑scale real‑time workloads.
• Champion observability, performance, and resiliency across the stack.
• Act as a mentor and multiplier, raising the technical bar and helping senior engineers grow.
• Lead technical deep dives, design reviews, and roadmap alignment discussions with leadership.
• Ensure security, compliance, and cost‑efficiency are embedded in design from day one.

• 10+ years of backend engineering experience, with 3+ years in Staff or Principal‑level roles.
• Proven success designing and scaling backend systems for tens of millions of users or high‑throughput real‑time systems.
• Expert in Java (17+), Python, or Node.js, with strong background in distributed systems, concurrency, and high availability.
• Hands‑on expertise in cloud‑native architectures (AWS or equivalent), Kubernetes/ECS, and containerized deployments.
• Strong experience building and operating mission‑critical services with SLAs in production.
• Deep understanding of API design, streaming data, and event‑driven systems.
• Exceptional communication skills — able to influence cross‑functional teams and leadership with clear technical direction.
• Track record of mentoring and elevating engineering teams.

• Deep knowledge of Java frameworks (Spring Boot, Micronaut).
• Advanced expertise in streaming platforms (Kafka, Pulsar, Flink, Spark).
• Experience product ionizing LLM‑powered systems (RAG, fine‑tuning, observability, evaluation frameworks).
• Prior ownership of multi‑region or global‑scale deployments.
• Background in performance optimization, latency reduction, and cost scaling at global scale.
• Familiarity with Git Ops, Terraform, CI/CD, and platform engineering practices.
• Experience building enterprise chat or messaging systems.
• Strong understanding of data security, compliance, and regulatory frameworks (SOC2, ISO, GDPR).

• Permanent Contract and a competitive compensation package.
• Beautiful office with a view of Lake Geneva, conveniently located next to the Prilly‑Malley train station.
• Hybrid work model balancing office and remote work, with a structured approach for new hires to foster connections and onboarding.
• Flexible Hours and unlimited vacation (employees have unlimited paid time off on top of the 25 days of holidays we offer) plus 3 company‑paid volunteer days.
• Free access to a fitness centre inside the building.
• Reimbursement of the half‑fare travel card for public transport.
• Reimbursement up to 50% of the cost of French classes.
• Fresh fruit, cookies, and soft drinks as well.
• Regular company and team events like Voluntary Days, Pizza talks, Team Building activities, hosting Meetups at the office and more!
• Bonuses for referring successful hires after three months of continuous employment.
• We offer a relocation package to people who are coming from…