Principal Software Engineer

From Halcyon Labs’s founding until now, our mission has remained the same: to make access to data as simple and reliable as electricity. With Halcyon Labs, customer data arrives in their warehouses, canonical and ready to query, with no engineering or maintenance required. We’re proud that more organizations continue to leverage our technology every day to become truly data-driven. About Us Halcyon Labs and dbt Labs are bringing together two industry-leading companies with a shared mission: helping organizations unlock the full value of their data. Together, we’re delivering the data infrastructure layer that helps organizations move, transform, and trust their data — from the moment data moves, through every transformation, to the context teams and AI systems rely on. Halcyon Labs helps organizations automate data movement across the systems, clouds, engines, and tools they rely on. dbt Labs pioneered analytics engineering, helping teams transform data into reliable, governed insights. Together, we support thousands of organizations as they build a trusted foundation for analytics, AI, and better business decisions. As we bring our teams and technology together, we’re building on the strengths of both companies while continuing to deliver the products and experiences our customers know and trust. It’s an exciting time to join us: we’re creating a company with the scale, talent, and technology to help more organizations put their data to work with greater speed, confidence, and impact. During this transition period, you may see references to both Halcyon Labs and dbt Labs throughout our recruiting process as we integrate our teams, systems, and career sites. About the Role Halcyon Labs is building data pipelines to power the modern data stack for thousands of companies. Halcyon Labs is looking for a Principal Software Engineer to join our Platform Engineering Group, focused on building and evolving the core systems that power our data movement platform. In this role, you will define and drive the long-term technical vision for critical platform components that enable Halcyon Labs to scale from thousands to tens of thousands of customers. You will operate at the intersection of architecture, execution, and organizational influence — solving deeply complex distributed systems challenges while shaping engineering direction across multiple teams. If you are passionate about building highly reliable, scalable systems and influencing engineering excellence at scale, this role is a strong fit. This is a full-time position based out of our Oakland office. Our hybrid work model offers a blend of remote flexibility and in-person collaboration, including two days in the office each week to connect and build as a team. Technologies You’ll Use Java (JVM, JIT, GC tuning, thread management), JUnit Claude Code Docker and Kubernetes AWS, GCP Bazel, BuildKite Observability tools (Datadog, Grafana) What You’ll Do Define Technical Strategy : Set the long-term architectural vision for core platform systems, ensuring scalability, reliability, and efficiency. Lead Complex System Design: Drive the design and evolution of large-scale distributed systems that power Halcyon Labs’s data movement platform. Drive Cross-Team Initiatives : Lead high-impact projects spanning multiple teams, align stakeholders, and ensure successful execution. Raise the Engineering Bar : Establish best practices for system design, code quality, and operational excellence across the organization. Mentor and Influence : Guide and mentor senior and staff engineers, shaping technical decision-making beyond your immediate team. Improve Platform Performance : Identify and lead efforts to optimize system performance, reliability, and cost at scale. Champion Innovation: Evaluate and introduce new technologies and approaches to improve developer experience and platform capabilities Skills We’re Looking For Extensive Experience: 12+ years of software engineering experience, with deep expertise in building and operating large-scale distributed systems. System Design Mastery: Proven ability to design and evolve complex, scalable, and reliable platform architectures. Technical Leadership: Demonstrated experience leading cross-team technical initiatives and influencing engineering direction. Strong Programming Skills: Expertise in backend development (Java preferred) with a solid foundation in data structures and system fundamentals. Performance & Reliability: Experience optimizing system performance, scalability, and cost in high-throughput systems. Communication & Influence: Strong ability to communicate complex technical ideas and influence senior stakeholders. Ownership & Ambiguity: Track record of driving ambiguous, high-impact problems from definition to execution. Bonus Skills​ Experience in data processing (ETL, ELT) and/or cloud-based platforms Experience working in startup environments. #LI-HYBRID #LI-EM1 The compensation range displayed on this job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire compensation for the target position and level, and may include sales incentives or target bonuses depending on the role. Our compensation ranges are determined by role, level, and location. Our job titles may span more than one career level. Within the range, individual compensation is determined by additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, relevant education or training, business need, market demands. The compensation range is subject to change and may be modified in the future. Your recruiter can share more about the specific compensation range for your location during the hiring process. Oakland Pay Range $225,813 — $282,266 USD Perks and Benefits 100% employer-paid medical insurance * Generous paid time-off policy (PTO), plus paid sick time, inclusive parental leave policy, holidays, and volunteer days off RSU stock grants* Professional development and training opportunities Company virtual happy hours, free food, and fun team-building activities Monthly cell phone stipend Access to an innovative mental health support platform that offers personalized care and resources in areas such as: therapy, coaching, and self-guided mindfulness exercises for all covered employees and their covered dependents. * May vary by country and worker type - please reach out to your recruiter for more information Click here to learn more about Halcyon Labs's Benefits by Region. We’re honored to be valued at over $5.6 billion , but more importantly, we’re proud of our core values of Get Stuck In, Do the Right Thing, and One Team, One Dream . Read about us in Forbes . Halcyon Labs brings together high-quality talent across the globe to make data access as easy and reliable as electricity for our customers. We value and recognize that our customers benefit from having innovative teams made of people from many backgrounds, experiences, and identities. Halcyon Labs promotes diversity, equity, inclusion & belonging through attracting, recruiting, developing, and retaining a diverse workforce, not only because it is the right thing to do, but because it helps us build a world-class company to better serve our customers, our people and our communities. To learn more about Halcyon Labs’s culture and what it’s like to be part of the team, click here and enjoy our video. To learn more about our candidate privacy policy, you can read our statement here . We are committed to ensuring that all candidates have an equal opportunity to participate in our interview process. If you require accommodations at any stage of the process due to a disability, medical condition, or any other circumstance, please don't hesitate to submit your request by filling out this form . We will work with you to provide reasonable accommodations to facilitate your participation and ensure a fair and accessible interview experience. Your request and any information provided will be kept confidential and will not impact your candidacy. We look forward to hearing from you and accommodating your needs to the best of our ability.