Principal Software Engineer

Shutterfly is a company that focuses on making life’s experiences unforgettable through self-expression and unique products. They are seeking a Principal Software Engineer to lead the technical direction across frontend and backend systems, focusing on commerce platforms and complex business domains. The role involves architectural stewardship, mentoring engineers, and driving the adoption of modern standards and AI-assisted development practices.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the architecture, design, and evolution of commerce-critical services, taking end-to-end ownership of cart systems, pricing engines, promotions and discount platforms, payment processing, address validation, tax integrations, and order-fulfillment workflows and tools
• Partner with product, UX, and business stakeholders to translate complex requirements into robust technical solutions
• Bring latest industry standards and best practices into the team, including modern frontend, backend, and platform patterns
• Guide and mentor engineering teams through architectural and technical leadership across frontend and backend systems built with React/Next.js and Java (Spring Boot / Restlet), driving performance, consistency, and long-term scalability
• Experience designing and working with databases, including MongoDB, with a strong understanding of data modeling and performance considerations; and use strong SQL expertise to efficiently retrieve metrics and support data-driven decisions
• Champion a strong problem-solving culture, tackling ambiguous and high-impact technical challenges
• Evaluate, introduce, and guide adoption of AI-driven development tools and workflows (e.g., code generation, testing, observability, and automation) with clear engineering discipline
• Proactively identify and address systemic risks, performance bottlenecks, and architectural gaps, while driving reliability, observability, and incident readiness
• Ensure platforms are secure, compliant, and cost-effective, with a continuous focus on maintainability and long-term extensibility

Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field
• 10+ years of hands-on experience in full-stack web application development
• Deep expertise in designing and operating high-performance, high-scale e-commerce solutions
• Strong foundation in algorithms, data structures, and system design
• Extensive full-stack experience with React, Next.js, Java (Spring Boot / Restlet), Scala, and MongoDB
• Deep understanding of distributed systems, API design, and service-oriented architectures
• Demonstrated ownership of complex business domains, preferably large-scale commerce platforms
• Proven ability to navigate ambiguity and solve high-complexity problems using sound technical judgment
• Experience designing and building systems for scalability, reliability, and performance in cloud environments (AWS preferred)
• Deep curiosity and continuous learner who actively explores and evaluates emerging technologies
• Strong problem-solving mindset, comfortable with ambiguity and incomplete information
• Proactively brings modern industry standards and best practices into the organization
• Thoughtful adopter of AI-driven development, focusing on real productivity and quality gains—not novelty
• Always looking to move systems toward a better, more maintainable, and cost-effective state
• Leads through influence, mentorship, and technical excellence