Principal Software Engineer

Principal Software Engineer Location: Remote (Anywhere in Canada) Company Overview Ironwood Digital is celebrating 18 years of serving educators. Founded by a classroom teacher, we're on a mission to empower educators with accessible and equitable resources, guiding students on their journey to life after graduation. We are dedicated to supporting both teachers and programs that facilitate student exploration of interests, career options, and skill acquisition through Career and Technical Education (CTE). We prioritize quality and the development of vital life readiness skills, including interpersonal communication and financial literacy. Our commitment to fostering exploration starts early, with resources tailored to middle school students. Our rich courseware catalog and Learning Blade resource have a proven track record of expanding STEM, computer science, and career interest and awareness. As the largest publisher of CTE and elective digital curriculum in North America, we offer a vast catalog of over 250 courses spanning grades 6-12. Our CTE pathway curriculum aligns to 14 career clusters, preparing students for nearly 100 industry certifications. To help bring our curriculum to learners, we provide professional development as well as virtual instructional services, supported by certified teachers, that facilitate personalized learning. Ironwood Digital doesn't stop at coursework alone. We are passionate about helping students grow their skills through experiential learning through our Knowledge Matters virtual simulation instructional materials and projects. Our simulations are true hands-on learning in a virtual environment. We take pride in the fact that our solutions and services are designed to empower educators and students alike, enabling them to take a transformative journey of exploration, engage in learning, and participate in real-world experiences. In July 2025, Ironwood Digital was acquired by Pearson Education Inc., the world’s leading learning company. Role Overview In this role, you will report directly to the Director of Engineering and operate as a Principal Engineer across all engineering teams. This is a high-impact, hands-on technical leadership role focused on improving engineering effectiveness, accelerating delivery, and ensuring technical excellence across the organization. You will not be embedded within a single team; instead, you will work across teams on the most critical initiatives, complex technical challenges, and architectural decisions. You will partner closely with Engineering Managers, Technical Leads, Product, and DevOps to ensure we are building scalable, maintainable, and high-quality systems that support Ironwood Digital ’s growth. Responsibilities Provide hands-on technical leadership across multiple teams, focusing on high-impact initiatives and critical path work Unblock complex technical challenges that span systems, teams, or domains Lead and contribute to architecture and system design decisions, ensuring scalability, simplicity, and long-term maintainability Conduct deep code reviews and set a high bar for engineering quality, performance, and reliability Identify and prevent overengineering, promoting pragmatic and efficient solutions Drive technical consistency and best practices across teams (design patterns, standards, tooling) Partner with the Engineering Manager and Tech Leads to support delivery without taking on people management responsibilities Contribute directly to code when needed, especially in high-risk or high-priority areas Mentor and guide senior engineers and technical leads through coaching, design discussions, and knowledge sharing Improve overall engineering effectiveness, including development workflows, system reliability, and scalability Ideal Qualifications Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or equivalent experience 15+ years of experience building and scaling full-stack applications Proven experience operating at a staff or principal level, influencing multiple teams or large systems Deep expertise in Node.js and TypeScript, with broader experience in several languages and programming paradigms Strong experience with React and modern front-end architectures Strong background in system design, distributed systems, and API architecture Experience working on complex, production-grade, high-scale systems Demonstrated ability to solve ambiguous, cross-cutting technical problems Experience driving technical strategy, standards, and architecture across teams Strong understanding of CI/CD, testing strategies, and DevOps practices Familiarity with AWS, Docker, Linux, and cloud-native architectures Proficiency with SQL and relational database design Legally eligible to work in Canada and/or the U.S Skills Ability to operate as a force multiplier across teams, elevating overall engineering quality and speed Strong architectural thinking with a focus on scalability, simplicity, and business impact Exceptional problem-solving skills,