About Arlo:
At Arlo, we're passionate about creating innovative and reliable solutions that help people protect what matters most to them. Our team is dedicated to delivering products that exceed our customers' expectations, while always pushing the boundaries of what's possible in the world of protection technology. We believe that everyone deserves to feel safe and secure, whether they're at home or away, and we're committed to providing our customers with the peace of mind they need to live their lives without worry. Arlo’s deep expertise in AI- and CV-powered analytics, cloud services, user experience, product design, and innovative wireless and RF connectivity enables the delivery of a seamless, smart security experience for Arlo users that is easy to set up and interact with every day.
Principal Engineer – API Platform
Location: Milpitas, CA (hybrid)
About the Role
We are seeking a Principal Engineer to lead the design and development of a next-generation Platform API.
This is a highly customer-facing technical role. You will work directly with internal teams and external partners to understand integration needs, identify friction, and shape a seamless developer experience. You view APIs as products - bringing strong attention to usability, consistency, and clarity in every interaction.
This is a rare opportunity to define the foundational architecture of a platform from the ground up while working within the context of a mature, production-grade service with an established user base.
What You'll Do
API Design & Developer Experience
Own the API as a product surface, ensuring consistency across endpoints, payloads, and error handling.
Engage directly with customers and integration partners to understand workflows and improve API usability.
Define and enforce API design standards focused on clarity, consistency, and discoverability.
Implement contract-first development using OpenAPI / AsyncAPI as the source of truth.
Design intuitive resource models and naming conventions aligned with consumer use cases.
Establish structured, actionable error handling standards.
Drive overall developer experience (DX), including SDKs, documentation, sandbox environments, and integration tooling.
Define versioning, deprecation, and backward compatibility strategies.
Architecture & Systems Design
Design scalable, secure Platform API architecture supporting multi-tenant and partner ecosystems.
Build configuration-driven customization for white-label and partner use cases.
Define onboarding, provisioning, and lifecycle management for partners.
Establish performance, scalability, and reliability standards (SLA, rate limiting, capacity planning).
Customer Engagement & Feedback
Act as a technical partner to key API consumers and stakeholders.
Lead API design reviews and validation sessions with internal and external users.
Establish feedback loops from usage data, support channels, and direct engagement.
Advocate for developers and partner needs in all architectural decisions.
Engineering Leadership
Provide technical leadership/mentorship across multiple engineering teams.
Drive architectural decisions, documentation, and design standards (ADRs, RFCs).
Lead design reviews and technical validation efforts.
Partner with leadership to align team structure and roadmap with platform strategy.
What You Bring
Required
10+ years of software engineering experience, with 5+ years in Staff/Principal or equivalent roles
Proven experience building API-first or API-as-a-product platforms
Strong focus on developer experience and API usability
Experience working directly with customers or external partners
Deep expertise in distributed systems, microservices, and API design patterns
Strong experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure) and modern infrastructure
Excellent communication skills across technical and non-technical stakeholders
Preferred
Experience building white-label or partner platforms
Familiarity with API gateways (e.g., Kong, Apigee, AWS API Gateway)
Knowledge of domain-driven design (DDD)
Experience defining API standards or governance frameworks
Contributions to open-source, technical writing, or speaking engagements
Why This Role Matters
This role defines how developers and partners interact with the platform. Your decisions will directly impact usability, adoption, and scalability - shaping whether integrations are seamless or complex. This is a high-impact, high-autonomy role focused on building a platform that developers trust and enjoy using.
The pay range for this position reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries at commencement of employment and is expected to be between USD$215,000-295,000/year. However, base pay offered may vary depending on multiple factors, including role, job-related knowledge, skills, relevant education and experience. The total compensation package for this position may also include other elements, including bonus, equity, and a full range of benefits. Details of all benefits will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment.
We’re committed to inclusivity and selecting the strongest candidate—no matter their background. Even if you don’t meet every listed qualification, we encourage you to apply. We’re happy to support growth in areas essential to the role. Interested in learning more about our workplace? Visit and follow our LinkedIn, and Glassdoor pages to read employee insights and get updates of what it’s like to be part of Arlo.
Arlo is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We value inclusion and are committed to inclusive, and harassment-free workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment based on all legally protected statuses in all hiring and employment.
We provide reasonable accommodations to applicants and employees with disabilities, who are pregnant or have a related medical condition, or who have sincerely held religious beliefs, observances, and practices. Pursuant to applicable state and municipal Fair Chance Laws and Ordinances, the Company will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.
Top Skills
What We Do
We are a passionate and diverse group of thought leaders, creators, and developers across all disciplines dedicated to changing how people protect and connect with the people and things they love. Arlo is an award-winning, market leader in the smart home IoT category that is focused on bringing together deep expertise in product design, wireless connectivity and RF engineering, cloud infrastructure and leading-edge AI capabilities to create a seamless smart home experience for Arlo users that's easy to setup and a joy to interact with every day.
