Lead Principal Software Engineer

Terradepth has built the category-defining ocean intelligence platform. The Lead Principal Software Engineer will serve as a foundational player-coach, driving the technical evolution, architecture, and execution of the SaaS software platform, Absolute Ocean.

Responsibilities:

• Maintain hands-on mastery of our core software stack: AWS (including GovCloud), Python microservices, Go, React (TypeScript/JavaScript), PostgreSQL, Docker, Kubernetes, and Swagger/OpenAPI
• Actively code and build across the full stack, implementing front-end interfaces, back-end microservices, APIs, and the core data pipelines for geospatial and bathymetric processing
• Deliver robust, high-impact code and lead by example to ensure on-time, predictable software commitments tied directly to business goals
• Enhance existing development practices, robust automated testing frameworks (PyTest, Jest, Playwright), and continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) workflows
• Architect and drive the technical design of the end-to-end Absolute Ocean (AO) SaaS platform across public cloud, private cloud, and on-premises environments ensuring high reliability, scalability, and performance
• Optimize geospatial data ingestion, transmission, and processing pipelines to scale seamlessly from Terabyte (TB) to Petabyte (PB) environments while maintaining elite performance
• Avoid the over-engineering trap by making fast, practical architectural decisions that support business execution without incurring crippling technical debt or maintenance overhead
• Partner closely with Product Management and Engineering leaders to translate product requirements into clear technical plans, designs, and actionable JIRA tickets
• Architect software systems and processes to meet stringent cybersecurity compliance goals, including CMMC L2, NIST 800-53, and future FedRAMP authorization efforts
• Mentor and develop a world-class team of software engineers, conducting comprehensive code reviews and guiding collaborative design alignment to elevate overall technical output
• Lead the thoughtful integration of AI/ML and agentic systems across the platform and internal engineering workflows to automate data processing, enable intelligent mission planning and survey operations, and accelerate overall development productivity
• Foster a healthy culture of ownership, accountability, technical excellence, resourcefulness under constraint, and continuous improvement
• Operate as one team with speed, discipline, and collaboration driving how decisions are made and executed
• Partner with Engineering Leadership, Product Management, Operations, and Business Development as needed to support technical solutioning and keep engineering aligned with company goals

Requirements:

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent practical experience
• 10+ years of professional software engineering experience, ideally within high-growth SaaS environments
• Strong full-stack or heavy backend/data expertise utilizing AWS, Python, Go, React, PostgreSQL, and Swagger/OpenAPI
• Deep experience defining and building event-based microservice architectures within containerized environments (Docker, Kubernetes)
• Demonstrated experience as a technical lead, architect, or player-coach responsible for mentoring developers and driving core system designs
• Proven track record of designing robust test automation strategies, including unit, integration, and end-to-end testing, and embedding them directly into the development process to protect software quality at high velocity
• Proven experience scaling large-scale data pipelines from Terabyte (TB) to Petabyte (PB) environments
• Experience packaging cloud-native software for deployment on physical hardware appliances via Virtual Machines (VMs) for offline or air-gapped network environments
• A hands-on builder mindset with experience delivering high-quality software in a dynamic startup culture, combining a proven ability to navigate ambiguity effectively with a commitment to maintainable documentation and collaborative problem-solving
• Experience handling complex geospatial data models using tools like CesiumJS, GDAL, ESRI, or related maritime data tools (CARIS, EIVA)
• Hands-on experience deploying practical AI/ML models or agentic systems within a production web application or internal engineering lifecycle
• Familiarity with security-first development practices aligned with modern compliance frameworks like NIST, CMMC, or FedRAMP