[Remote] Principal Engineer, Technical Lead

Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. Horizon3.ai is a fast-growing, remote cybersecurity company dedicated to enabling organizations to proactively find, fix and verify exploitable attack vectors.

They are seeking a Principal Engineer to serve as the Technical Lead, responsible for shaping systems, architecture, and technical direction of their product, while mentoring engineers and influencing decisions across multiple projects.

Responsibilities Own the end-to-end technical vision for the RBVM and its supporting services, from initial concept through implementation, iteration, and long-term evolutionPartner with cross functional stakeholders to translate ambiguous product and business goals into concrete technical strategy, architecture, and execution plans for the RBVM teamContribute production code, setting the standard for design quality, code quality, and operational rigorLead architectural decisions for scalable backend systems that balance velocity, reliability, maintainability, extensibility, and operabilityDrive execution across multiple concurrent projects and initiatives, identifying risks, dependencies, and tradeoffs early and helping the team sequence work effectivelyPartner closely with Product, Engineering leadership, Design, and adjacent engineering teams to deliver cross-functional initiatives and ensure technical decisions reflect both business context and customer needsCommunicate complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences, including leadership stakeholdersSet and continually raise the technical bar through architecture reviews, code reviews, technical writing, and strong engineering judgment under ambiguityMentor and develop engineers on the team by providing thoughtful feedback, technical coaching, and frameworks that help others do the best work of their careersSupport hiring by helping attract, interview, and calibrate strong engineering talent as the RBVM organization grows Skills Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience10+ years of professional software engineering experienceExperience building backend services using at least one modern language, such as Python, Go, Java, TypeScript, or similarExperience working with SQL and at least one relational database in productionExperience building backend services on a cloud platform (AWS, GCP, or Azure), and familiarity with Docker and containerized applicationsDeep expertise in software architecture, distributed or service-oriented systems, and the engineering tradeoffs involved in building durable, scalable productsStrong technical leadership experience as a senior individual contributor or technical lead, with a track record of leading through influence rather than formal management authorityStrong product judgment and the ability to translate business or customer needs into pragmatic technical decisionsExperience working across multiple projects or workstreams at the same time while maintaining clarity on priorities, risks, and execution sequencingProven ability to work effectively with cross-functional partners including Product, Design, Security, peer engineering teams, and senior leadershipStrong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain technical decisions and tradeoffs to non-technical stakeholdersA history of mentoring engineers, elevating team performance, and improving engineering craft through design feedback, code reviews, and technical guidanceComfort operating in ambiguity and making sound decisions with incomplete informationBackend development in one or more of: Go, Rust, Python, Java, or similarDesigning and operating APIs, services, and asynchronous or event-driven systemsData modeling and persistence layers for product-grade backend systemsCloud-native application development and deployment patternsObservability, reliability, and operational best practices for production servicesTechnical design documents, architectural proposals, and engineering standards that can be adopted by other teamsExperience with PostgreSQL and performance tuning for large datasetsExperience with graph databases such as Neo4j or interest in learning themExperience building or consuming GraphQL backendsExperience with ETL pipelines and data processing tools (e.g., Airflow-like frameworks, custom ETL jobs, or similar)Experience with observability stacks (e.g., Datadog, Prometheus, Grafana) and instrumentation of servicesExperience in cybersecurity, vulnerability management, security analytics, security data platforms, or adjacent domainsExperience building products or platforms in vulnerability management, exposure management, security telemetry, or related cybersecurity domainsFamiliarity with risk scoring, prioritization systems, or data-intensive backend workflowsExperience partnering closely with product managers to define and sequence an MVP without painting the team into a cornerExperience helping define technical standards or practices adopted beyond your immediate teamA track record of shaping technical direction more broadly across an organization, with influence extending beyond a single team or domain Benefits All full-time roles are eligible for an equity package in the form of stock options.Health, vision & dental insurance for you and your familyA flexible vacation policyGenerous parental leaveHybrid & Remote Work: We embrace a mix of remote and hybrid work models depending on role and location, including our Chicago office, where some roles require regular in-office presence.

Company Overview Horizon3.ai offers an autonomous penetration testing platform that helps organizations proactively find and fix security vulnerabilities. It was founded in 2019, and is headquartered in San Francisco, California, USA, with a workforce of 201-500 employees.

Its website is https://www.horizon3.ai.