Hybrid Principal Software Engineer

at CEF.AI

• Job title: Principal Software Engineer
• Job type: Full Time
• Experience level: Lead
• Salary: $80,000 - $150,000 per year
• Degree requirement: No Education Requirement
• Tech skills: Distributed Systems, Kotlin, React, Rust, TypeScript, Web3, Go
• Location requirements: Hybrid, Munich, Germany

About the role

• Principal Software Engineer at CEF AI building a decentralized real-time AI computing platform. Collaborate with top-tier tech leaders in a high-ownership, zero-bureaucracy environment.

Responsibilities

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

Requirements

• 4+ years in high-performance software environments, with a proven track record of shipping complex systems end-to-end.
• Mastery of one or more systems languages (Go, Rust, Kotlin, etc.) and strong backend engineering fundamentals.
• Experience designing and scaling distributed systems with performance, reliability, and observability in mind.
• Strong discipline around testing, CI/CD, and long-term maintainability (TDD preferred).
• Ability to turn ambiguity into architecture, and architecture into reliable, extensible code.
• Clear, concise communicator who can explain tradeoffs, write technical specs, and mentor junior engineers.
• Bonus: Experience with edge computing, Web3 protocols, real-time data infra, or AI/ML-powered systems.

Benefits

• Competitive Compensation & Meaningful Equity: We offer founder-level alignment because this is a founder-level role.
• High-Ownership Role: You’ll directly shape our technical direction and long-term stack architecture.
• Work with Top-Tier Founders & Engineers: Collaborate daily with a deeply technical, mission-driven leadership team.
• Build the Future of AI Infrastructure: We're not optimizing yesterday's workflows—we're inventing tomorrow's.
• Zero Bureaucracy, Maximum Autonomy: We stay lean, move fast, and trust you to lead.
• Remote-First, In-Person When It Counts: We're distributed across SF and Europe, with monthly hackathons and off-sites to align and build together.