Job Requisition ID #
Position Overview
We are seeking an experienced principal engineer to join our team of smart and driven engineers who are building real-world solutions for the construction industry. Our team owns and operates customer-facing products and backend services that support critical workflows across Autodesk Forma. As a principal engineer on the team, you will lead the design and delivery of scalable, reliable, and maintainable backend systems. You will work on complex product and platform initiatives, including modernizing existing services, improving system architecture, and building new capabilities that support customer and business needs.
This is a full-stack product engineering team, with a strong emphasis on backend services, cloud infrastructure, APIs, and production operations. There are opportunities to collaborate closely with product, design, QA, architecture, and other engineering teams to understand customer problems early in the development cycle and shape the right technical solutions.This is an opportunity to be part of a learning and feedback-oriented culture, solve meaningful technical challenges, and make a measurable impact on products used by real customers.
Responsibilities
Building, shipping, and maintaining product features and backend services in a cloud environment
Driving API designs, database schemas, service boundaries, and architecture for distributed backend systems
Leading complex technical projects that involve multiple stakeholders across engineering, product, design, QA, and other Autodesk teams
Modernizing existing systems by improving reliability, scalability, maintainability, observability, and operational ownership
Maintaining a high standard of code quality by promoting team best practices around automated testing, code reviews, design patterns, documentation, and production readiness
Translating complex product and technical requirements into discrete engineering tasks with clear level-of-effort and timeline estimates
Making practical technical trade-offs across customer needs, system complexity, performance, security, reliability, and delivery timelines
Mentoring engineers through technical guidance, design reviews, code reviews, and knowledge sharing
Communicating project status, identifying risks and blockers, and helping resolve the root cause of slowdowns with the rest of the team
Participating in an on-call rotation to support systems in the production environment
Minimum Qualifications
BS or MS in a technical field, or significant equivalent experience.
8+ years of software engineering experience
Strong understanding of complex backend systems, distributed systems, microservices, APIs, and database design
Experience designing and building production-level code with automated tests that is resilient, maintainable, and scalable
Experience leading technical projects from design through delivery and production support
Experience instrumenting code and services for monitoring, debugging, profiling, alerting, and operational visibility
Ability to define, evolve, and interact with RESTful APIs
Experience working in cloud environments such as AWS
Strong written and verbal communication skills, especially around technical concepts, architectural trade-offs, and project risks
Cross-functional experience working with product managers, designers, QA engineers, architects, and engineering partners to keep projects on track
Preferred Qualifications
Experience building non-trivial backend services and APIs from the ground up
Experience decomposing or modernizing legacy systems, monoliths, or shared services into clearer service boundaries
Experience with JavaScript, Node.js, PostgreSQL, and AWS
Experience with Docker and containerized development workflows
Experience building or improving DevOps tooling to support backend services
Familiarity with AWS tools such as SQS, RDS, EventBridge, ElastiCache, Lambda, ECS, CloudWatch, or related services
Experience improving service reliability, performance, observability, security, or developer productivity
Product engineering mindset and customer empathy to provide the right technical solution to real users’ problems with the right trade-offs
Ability to operate effectively in ambiguous environments and drive clarity through technical leadership
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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. Offers are based on the candidate’s experience and geographic location. In addition to base salaries, our compensation package may include annual cash bonuses, commissions for sales roles, stock grants, and a comprehensive benefits package.Diversity & Belonging
We take pride in cultivating a culture of belonging where everyone can thrive. Learn more here: https://www.autodesk.com/company/diversity-and-belonging
Are you an existing contractor or consultant with Autodesk?
Please search for open jobs and apply internally (not on this external site).
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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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