Principal Software Engineer

Join to apply for the Principal Software Engineer role at CEF.AI

This range is provided by CEF.AI. Your actual pay will be based on your skills and experience — talk with your recruiter to learn more.

$/yr - $/yr

🚀 San Francisco
, this is your moment. Our CEO is in SF from 8th Jan for 1 week only (!) and is hosting exclusive, fast‑track in‑person interviews for this role. Apply now to secure a slot 🚀

You will play a critical role in designing and building our inference platform for sovereign AI agents. This is not just an execution role — we’re looking for someone who thinks strategically, moves with intention, and can take ideas from concept to production with a balance of technical depth and practical decision‑making.

You’ll be working across the stack, applying modern technologies to develop performant, secure, and scalable systems. This is an opportunity to help shape the foundation of a platform that powers real‑world AI applications at scale.

• Systems Architecture:
  Design, implement, and scale foundational backend systems and APIs that power real-time, multi-agent AI workflows.
• Developer
  
  Experience:
  
  Own the end-to-end developer journey by building SDKs, CLIs, and interfaces that make it easy to interact with our platform.
• Cross‑Stack Execution:
  Rapidly prototype and productize features using tools like Cursor, React, and Type Script—without sacrificing quality or scale.
• Technical Leadership:
  Guide architectural decisions, lead design reviews, and mentor engineers in best practices for distributed, high‑performance systems.
• Collaboration:
  
  Partner with product, design, and leadership to align technical execution with company vision and user needs.
• Execution Ownership:
  Drive key projects from 0→1 with autonomy, accountability, and a strong bias for action.

• Experience:
  
  4+ years in high‑performance software environments, with a proven track record of shipping complex systems end-to-end.
• Deep Technical Expertise:
  Mastery of one or more systems languages (Go, Rust, Kotlin, etc.) and strong backend engineering fundamentals.
• Architectural Fluency:
  Experience designing and scaling distributed systems with performance, reliability, and observability in mind.
• Quality & Testing:
  Strong discipline around testing, CI/CD, and long‑term maintainability (TDD preferred).
• Builder Mindset:
  Ability to turn ambiguity into architecture, and architecture into reliable, extensible code.
• Communication:
  Clear, concise communicator who can explain tradeoffs, write technical specs, and mentor junior engineers.
• Bonus:
  Experience with edge computing, real‑time inference, or AI/ML‑powered systems.

• Real Equity & Fair Pay:
  We believe in true partnership. You will get a competitive salary and meaningful equity so your personal upside is tied directly to the company's success.
• Ownership, Not Just Tasks:
  You won't be lost in a big machine here. You will take full ownership of your projects and help define the future of our Web3 stack.
• Direct Access to Leadership:
  You are part of the core conversation. You will work side by side with the CEO and founders every day to solve hard problems and set the strategy.
• Inventing the Future:
  We are building the infrastructure for autonomous AI agents that doesn't exist yet. This is the place for you if you want to do original work instead of maintaining legacy systems.
• Builders Decide:
  We hate red tape as much as you do. We stay lean and let the people building the product make the decisions that drive the roadmap.
• Remote with Connection:
  We are remote first but value real face time. We meet monthly in SF and Europe to build momentum together because we know results matter more than counting hours.

We move fast, stay transparent, and focus on real collaboration. Here’s what the process looks like:

• Intro Call – A quick chat to align on expectations, interests, and team fit.
• Technical Deep Dive – A focused conversation with our Engineering Manager to explore your systems thinking and past work.
• CEO Interview – A strategic discussion around vision, mindset, and long‑term alignment.
• Reference Collection – We’ll speak with a few people you’ve worked closely with.
• Paid Trial (~5 Days) – A short, real‑world engagement so we can see how we work together, happening in parallel with offer and terms discussion.

• As a startup, you can expect a fast‑paced environment where extreme ownership is required.
• If you are seeking a traditional corporate 9‑to‑5 role, this may not be the right fit.

“It’s not 10,000 hours, it’s 10,000 iterations”; “Work like a lion” – Naval Ravikant