[ref. s76796222] Principal Software Engineer
Team: Systems
Location: In-Person in Chicago (IL)
Employment Type: Full-time
Start Date: ASAP
About Braven
Braven is a national nonprofit that prepares promising young people—many of whom are people of color, from low-income backgrounds, and the first in their families to attend college—to secure a strong first opportunity after college graduation through a career-accelerating program.
We work with higher education and employer partners to offer a life-changing experience that begins with a semester-long course for college students followed by support that lasts through graduation.
Together, we are helping to open up access to the American Promise, empowering a generation of leaders who mirror the diversity of our country.
To learn more, take a look at Braven’s Impact Report and Jobs Report.
About the Role
In order to achieve its ambition of serving 80,000-100,000 Fellows over the next decade, Braven is hiring a Principal Software Engineer who will provide technical leadership in software design, architecture, and development. In addition, mentor junior team members and drive strategic technological initiatives in alignment with Braven’s goals.As a leader on the engineering team, you will provide the technical expertise and experience to shape technical strategy and ensure excellence in the team's delivery and execution.
This role is on the Systems team and reports to the Managing Director, Software Engineering.
What You’ll Do- Technical Leadership: (70%)
- Drive the entire organization's technical vision and long-term strategy, shaping architectural decisions and guiding overall technical direction.
- Lead the design, architecture, and development of highly complex, scalable, and maintainable software solutions across multiple systems.
- Make strategic decisions on technology selection and methodology adoption, ensuring innovation while balancing technical debt.
- Identify and resolve the most challenging technical issues, ensuring system reliability and high availability.
- Establish and enforce engineering standards, including design patterns, code quality, and security best practices at the organizational level.
- Implement and optimize performance monitoring strategies for production systems, leading to proactive issue resolution.
- Drive software quality initiatives through continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) and automated testing strategies.
- Team Collaboration & Development: (20%)
- Coach and develop engineers across all levels, providing support to enhance technical skills, leadership abilities, and problem-solving capabilities.
- Facilitate and lead technical review processes, including architecture reviews, design discussions, and code reviews, to promote consistency, excellence, and shared learning.
- Foster cross-functional collaboration by aligning technical strategies with organizational goals and encouraging teamwork and shared accountability.
- Advocate for diverse perspectives and inclusivity, creating an environment where all voices are valued, and team members feel empowered to contribute to decision-making processes.
- Communication & Documentation: (10%)
- Translate complex technical concepts for non-technical stakeholders, empowering informed decision-making across the organization.
- Create and maintain comprehensive technical documentation, including architecture diagrams, design decisions, and system protocols.
- Stay current with industry trends, security best practices, and compliance standards, ensuring the organization remains at the forefront of technology advancements.
- Act as a key technical representative in strategic planning meetings and external partnerships.
Requirements
Minimum Requirements- Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field or equivalent professional experience
- 10+ years of professional experience in software engineering, including significant leadership responsibilities.
- Proven experience as a Principal Software Engineer, Staff Engineer, or in a similar senior technical leadership role.
- Extensive experience in designing, building, and maintaining large-scale, complex software systems, with expertise in distributed system architecture.
- Strong proficiency across backend, frontend, infrastructure, and database design, showcasing versatility in software development.
- Expert knowledge of software architecture patterns and design principles, with a focus on scalability and maintainability.
- Mastery of the software development lifecycle (SDLC), including Agile, Scrum, CI/CD pipelines, and test-driven development (TDD).
- Advanced coaching and development skills, with a track record of fostering growth and creating opportunities for engineering teams.
- Proficiency with languages and frameworks such as Ruby, Python, Airflow, SQL, JavaScript, and modern web frameworks.
- Deep experience with of cloud platforms (AWS, Google Cloud) and containerization tools (Docker, Kubernetes).
- Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence technical and non-technical audiences effectively.
- You have a demonstrated commitment to justice, equity, diversity and inclusion.
- You exemplify Braven’s core values.
- Your experiences have informed your belief in Braven’s mission and have prepared you to work with, or for, Braven’s student Fellow population.
Please know that no one ever meets 100% of the preferred qualifications. If much of this describes you, we encourage you to apply.
Work Demands- Ability to work in-person in Chicago (IL)
- Travel 2-3 times per year
- Authorized to work in the U.S.
Application & Interview Process
While the interview process may vary slightly, the general process will be:
- Phone screen with Talent Team member
- Performance Task
- Technical Interview with Hiring Manager
- Panel Interview with Key Partners
- Reference Checks
Benefits
Compensation and Benefits
The salary for this position, which depends on prior work experience and our assessment of your demonstrated fit for the role, will likely be between $195,700 - $244,600 in Chicago. Braven offers competitive base salaries based on the midpoint of the market among not-for-profit organizations of similar size, with opportunities for salary growth over time.We believe in compensating staff members fairly in relation to each other, their qualifications, and their impact on behalf of the organization, and take internal and external equity seriously. Given our commitment to equity, Braven does not negotiate salary offers; instead each salary offer is determined carefully using external and internal benchmarking.
You will have an opportunity to discuss salary in more detail after you begin the application process.
Braven also provides competitive, comprehensive benefits, recognition, and career development. While Braven reserves the right to change benefits at any time, current benefits include:
- Unlimited vacation time in addition to org-wide holidays and week-long shutdowns in July and the end of the calendar year (this is a minimum of 19 days per year)
- Match of your 401K contribution up to 5% of your base annual salary, starting your first full month
- Coverage of 85% of health insurance premium for employee and dependents
- A one-month paid sabbatical after 4 years on staff
Location
We gather in the office at least 3 days per week (on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) and work remotely 2 days per week Monday and Friday. Therefore, this role requires teammates to live within commuting distance of the Chicago hub. We believe in the magic, connection, and collaboration that happens when people work together face-to-face and we believe in giving people the flexibility to focus, balance personal priorities, and save themselves two commutes per week.
Braven is an equal opportunity employer and considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected factor.We encourage talented individuals of all backgrounds to apply.