Principal Software Developer

Posted 3 Days Ago
Be an Early Applicant
Vancouver, BC, CAN
In-Office
131K-191K Annually
Senior level
Big Data • Cloud • Digital Media • Machine Learning • Mobile • Software • Industrial
Autodesk is a global leader in design and make technology that helps innovators everywhere solve today's challenges.
The Role
Provides technical leadership and hands-on software engineering for Autodesk’s developer portal and application management platform. Responsibilities include architecture, implementation, API and workflow improvements, production operations, engineering excellence, AI-assisted development, cross-team technical direction, and mentoring. The role requires designing scalable distributed systems, resolving complex production issues, influencing decisions across teams, and delivering reliable developer-facing products.
Summary Generated by Built In

Job Requisition ID #

26WD100826

Principal Software DeveloperPosition Overview

We are looking for a Principal Software Developer to join the Autodesk Platform Services (APS) Developer Portal team at Autodesk.

As a hands-on technical leader, you will solve complex and ambiguous engineering problems and shape the architecture and technical direction of the APS Developer Portal and Application Management platform, including developer app lifecycle, APIs, documentation, usage analytics, and AI/MCP-enabled developer workflows.

You will partner across Engineering, Product, Design, and Architecture to translate customer and business needs into scalable, reliable solutions and help drive technical direction across teams. The ideal candidate brings deep engineering fundamentals, strong product and technical judgment, and the ability to create clarity across organizational boundaries.

ResponsibilitiesTechnical Leadership & Architecture

• Provide technical leadership for complex, high-impact initiatives spanning multiple components, services, or teams.

• Define and evolve architecture for scalable, reliable, secure, and maintainable systems; navigate ambiguity and make pragmatic tradeoffs between near-term delivery and long-term health.

• Build alignment across organizational and system boundaries, communicating technical tradeoffs, risks, and recommendations clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders.

• Identify cross-team risks and dependencies early, and establish reusable architectural patterns and guidance that benefit the broader engineering organization.

Hands-on Engineering & End-to-End Ownership

• Remain hands-on with architecture, design, prototyping, implementation, code reviews, debugging, and critical technical deliverables.

• Own technically complex initiatives end to end, from exploration and design through implementation, production readiness, and ongoing operation.

• Improve developer-facing workflows for app creation, API access, documentation, usage visibility, and platform self-service.

• Lead resolution of complex production issues and ensure solutions address root causes and improve the long-term health of the system.

Engineering Excellence & Developer Productivity

• Raise engineering standards through architecture and design reviews, code reviews, testing, operational readiness, and continuous improvement.

• Champion practices and tooling that improve software quality, developer productivity, reliability, and delivery effectiveness while balancing speed with sustainable technical investment.

• Use production signals, customer feedback, and engineering data to continuously improve systems and development practices.

• Use AI-assisted development tools effectively across the software development lifecycle to improve engineering productivity and quality, while applying sound judgment around correctness, security, maintainability, and accountability.

Mentorship & Organizational Impact

• Mentor and develop engineers through technical guidance, design discussions, code reviews, and thoughtful feedback.

• Share knowledge and technical context broadly to help engineers and teams solve complex problems more effectively.

• Foster a collaborative engineering culture and constructive technical decision-making.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.

• 8+ years of professional software engineering experience, including leading technically complex initiatives.

• Strong software engineering fundamentals and demonstrated experience designing, building, and operating production systems.

• Demonstrated architecture and system-design experience with complex web applications, API platforms, distributed systems, or comparable production environments.

• Hands-on programming experience with modern backend and/or frontend technologies, plus experience with cloud services, APIs, data stores, security, and production observability.

• Experience using AI-assisted development tools in software engineering workflows, with sound judgment in evaluating and validating AI-generated outputs.

• Experience delivering initiatives across multiple systems or teams and influencing technical decisions without relying on direct authority.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills and demonstrated ability to mentor engineers and raise team effectiveness.

Preferred Qualifications

You do not need experience with every technology used by the team; we value the ability to learn unfamiliar technologies over exact stack matching.

• Experience designing and operating cloud-based web applications, developer platforms, or APIs at scale.

• Experience with technologies representative of our environment, such as Python/Django, JavaScript/TypeScript/React, AWS, relational databases, asynchronous processing, containers, CI/CD, and observability tooling.

• Experience with API architecture, security, reliability, scalability, performance, and integrations across multiple services or external platforms.

• Experience introducing, evaluating, or scaling AI-assisted engineering practices, automation, or modern developer workflows across teams.

• Experience working with globally distributed engineering and cross-functional teams.

Learn More

About Autodesk

Welcome to Autodesk! Amazing things are created every day with our software – from the greenest buildings and cleanest cars to the smartest factories and biggest hit movies. We help innovators turn their ideas into reality, transforming not only how things are made, but what can be made.

We take great pride in our culture here at Autodesk – it’s at the core of everything we do. Our culture guides the way we work and treat each other, informs how we connect with customers and partners, and defines how we show up in the world.

When you’re an Autodesker, you can do meaningful work that helps build a better world designed and made for all. Ready to shape the world and your future? Join us!

Salary transparency

Salary is one part of Autodesk’s competitive compensation package. For Canada based roles, we expect a starting base salary between $131,000 and $191,400. Offers are based on the candidate’s experience and geographic location, and may exceed this range. In addition to base salaries, our compensation package may include annual cash bonuses, commissions for sales roles, stock grants, and a comprehensive benefits package.

Belonging
We take pride in cultivating a culture of belonging where everyone can thrive. Learn more here: https://www.autodesk.com/company/global-belonging


In-Person Onboarding and Identity Verification

This role may require in-person onboarding and/or in-person ID verification.

Are you an existing contractor or consultant with Autodesk?

Please search for open jobs and apply internally (not on this external site).

Skills Required

  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
  • 8+ years of professional software engineering experience, including leading technically complex initiatives.
  • Strong software engineering fundamentals and experience designing, building, and operating production systems.
  • Architecture and system-design experience with complex web applications, API platforms, distributed systems, or comparable production environments.
  • Hands-on programming experience with modern backend and/or frontend technologies, cloud services, APIs, data stores, security, and production observability.
  • Experience using AI-assisted development tools in software engineering workflows and validating AI-generated outputs.
  • Experience delivering initiatives across multiple systems or teams and influencing technical decisions without direct authority.
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills and ability to mentor engineers and improve team effectiveness.
  • Experience designing and operating cloud-based web applications, developer platforms, or APIs at scale.
  • Experience with Python/Django, JavaScript/TypeScript/React, AWS, relational databases, asynchronous processing, containers, CI/CD, and observability tooling.
  • Experience with API architecture, security, reliability, scalability, performance, and integrations across multiple services or external platforms.
  • Experience introducing, evaluating, or scaling AI-assisted engineering practices, automation, or modern developer workflows across teams.
  • Experience working with globally distributed engineering and cross-functional teams.

Autodesk Compensation & Benefits Highlights

The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Autodesk and has not been reviewed or approved by Autodesk.

  • Leave & Time Off Breadth Time away is considered expansive, combining discretionary time off for salaried roles, company holidays/Autodays, and a periodic paid sabbatical. These options provide flexibility beyond standard accrual-based PTO.
  • Equity Value & Accessibility Total rewards prominently include RSUs and an employee stock purchase plan with a discount and lookback, alongside annual bonus or commission programs. These elements are available to eligible employees and can materially augment base pay.
  • Parental & Family Support Family-building support includes reimbursement for adoption, surrogacy, IVF/co‑maternity, and fertility benefits, plus dedicated coaching and Cleo resources for parenting and caregiving. These services extend support before, during, and after leave.

Autodesk Insights

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The Company
HQ: San Francisco, CA
13,285 Employees
Year Founded: 1982

What We Do

Autodesk makes software for people who make things. If you’ve ever driven a high-performance car, admired a towering skyscraper, used a smartphone, or watched a great film, chances are you’ve experienced what millions of Autodesk customers are doing with our software. Autodesk gives you the power to make anything. Over 100 million people use Autodesk software like AutoCAD, Revit, Maya, 3ds Max, Fusion 360, SketchBook, and more to unlock their creativity and solve important design, business and environmental challenges. Our software runs on both personal computers and mobile devices and taps the infinite computing power of the cloud to help teams around the world collaborate, design, simulate and fabricate their ideas in 3D. We provide exceptional compensation/benefit packages and we’d love for you to join us. We’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer and we consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, gender, disability, veteran status or other protected category. To see our culture in action, check out #AutodeskLife. We are headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area and have more than 10,000 employees worldwide.

Why Work With Us

Our work is impactful. Our people are innovative. And our culture is inclusive. As our software shapes new solutions to the world’s biggest challenges, you shape your career path. With us, you lead the way in achieving sustainability, resilient communities, and an equitable workforce. Discover #AutodeskLife. 

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