Principal Engineer (Scala or Java)

Job Description:

 We are looking for a Principal Scala Engineer to help lead the architecture, modernization, and long-term technical direction of the PollFish platform and related services. This is a hands-on principal-level role for someone who can guide complex Scala/Java systems, raise engineering standards across teams, and help the organization evolve toward a more AI-first engineering model.

 This role will report to the Director of Engineering in Greece and work closely with the Greece engineering hub, helping shape platform direction, support technical execution, and build strong cross-geo engineering alignment. It requires a blend of deep technical judgment, systems thinking, mentoring capability, and the ability to influence without direct authority.  

• Sets technical direction for a major domain (platform, core services, data / streaming backbone, or shared frameworks) primarily in Scala and Java

• Leads architecture and design for complex, cross-team initiatives; eliminates systemic reliability, performance, and scalability risks

• Establishes engineering standards, reference architectures, and best practices that scale across teams

• Partners closely with the Director of Engineering in Greece and the Greece engineering hub to shape technical direction, support execution, and strengthen long-term engineering capability 

• Helps teams move from AI-assisted to more AI-first development practices where it meaningfully improves speed, quality, and maintainability

• Mentors senior engineers through technical leadership and influence (no direct reports)

The Principal Engineer accelerates Prodege’s ability to scale by defining and driving high-leverage architecture for Scala/Java systems that must be fast, stable, and resilient. This role reduces long-term technical risk, improves platform reliability and developer velocity, and aligns multiple teams around practical standards and patterns — turning strategic direction into durable engineering outcomes.

• Own technical strategy and architecture for a core domain

• Drive cross-team delivery of high-impact initiatives

• Raise reliability, resiliency, and performance at scale

• Standardize platform patterns, tooling, and engineering excellence

• Strengthen security, governance, and operational maturity

• Mentor and multiply engineering effectiveness across the organization

• Drive adoption of AI-first engineering workflows where they provide meaningful leverage 

Qualifications - To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each job duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Define target architecture and reference patterns for Scala/Java services in a key domain (e.g., core APIs, monetization / yield services, identity / entitlements, data capture / streaming, experimentation)

• Create architectural decision records (ADRs), standards, and guidelines that enable teams to scale safely

• Evaluate tradeoffs (build vs. buy, monolith vs. services, sync vs. async) and guide decisions with measurable outcomes

• Prioritize the right areas for modernization based on business impact, architectural constraints, and engineering leverage

• Lead design and execution for complex initiatives spanning multiple teams and systems (roadmap alignment, technical sequencing, dependency management)

• Partner with Product and Engineering leadership to shape scope, timelines, and risk mitigation plans

• Unblock teams by resolving deep technical constraints and providing clear integration paths

• Partner closely with the Director of Engineering in Greece, the Greece engineering hub, and other global teams to ensure strong alignment and execution 

• Identify systemic reliability risks and implement durable fixes (architecture changes, runtime safeguards, capacity strategies)

• Drive performance and scalability programs (SLOs / SLAs, load testing, latency budgets, capacity planning)

• Turn incident learnings into repeatable improvements (runbooks, automation, error budgets, resiliency patterns)

• Create reusable frameworks, service templates, and libraries to reduce cognitive load and improve consistency

• Improve engineering productivity by streamlining CI/CD, test strategy, and developer workflows in partnership with platform teams

• Set code quality and review standards; raise the bar on observability and maintainability across teams

• Drive an AI-first engineering mindset by identifying where AI can meaningfully improve coding, testing, debugging, documentation, and architecture exploration

• Help teams adopt AI-assisted workflows with strong trust-but-verify discipline and engineering rigor

• Embed secure-by-design principles into architecture and team practices (data handling, access patterns, secrets, dependency hygiene)

• Partner with Security / Compliance to meet governance needs with minimal delivery friction

• Ensure operational readiness for critical changes (release strategies, rollback plans, monitoring / alerting completeness)

• Mentor Senior Engineers and Tech Leads through technical coaching, design reviews, and architecture forums

• Lead knowledge sharing through brown bags, documentation, best practices, and reference implementations

• Coach engineers on effective use of AI tools and workflows so that AI improves leverage without compromising reliability, security, or maintainability

• Influence engineering culture through pragmatic standards, clarity, and high ownership

• Partner with Product, Platform, Data, QA, Security, and Engineering leadership to ensure architecture aligns with business priorities and delivery realities

• Participate in cross-functional and business-critical meetings, initiatives, and relationship-building activities, including occasional international travel of approximately 5%–10% as required

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent practical experience

• 10+ years of software engineering experience with significant ownership of backend / distributed systems

• Deep production experience building and evolving large-scale systems using Scala and Java, including service architecture, runtime behavior, and performance tuning

• Proven architecture leadership across multiple services / systems and teams

• Strong expertise in distributed systems, reliability engineering, observability, and performance optimization

• Demonstrated ability to lead multi-team technical initiatives and influence roadmap / architecture decisions through strong technical judgment

• Strong operational ownership, including incident response, postmortems, and long-term remediation

• Ability to influence without authority through technical clarity, collaboration, and strong communication

• Practical experience using AI as an engineering force multiplier, including code generation, debugging, documentation, design exploration, and workflow acceleration, with strong validation discipline

• Experience working effectively with distributed teams, especially in partnership with a global engineering hub

• Must be able to accommodate occasional international travel (approximately 5%–10%) in support of the role

• Experience modernizing or decomposing monolithic systems

• Experience with large-scale streaming / event systems and data pipelines

• Experience building internal platforms or shared frameworks used by multiple teams

• Experience with Kubernetes, service meshes, and cloud cost / performance optimization

• Background in AdTech, offer / rewards ecosystems, fraud / risk systems, or experimentation at scale

• Familiarity with AI-first / AI-assisted engineering workflows across software teams

Prodege Benefits:

Prodege offers a comprehensive benefits package to US Full-time employees including medical, dental, vision, STD, LTD and basic life insurance. Employees receive flexible PTO, as well as paid sick leave prorated based on hire date. US Employees have eight paid holidays throughout the calendar year.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

At Prodege, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment. We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We encourage individuals of all backgrounds to apply.

FCIHO

Employers will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of FCIHO.