Principal Engineer II

What You'll Do The Principal Engineer II – Performance Engineering serves as a senior technical leader responsible for diagnosing, analyzing, and resolving complex performance issues across distributed systems, applications, and network infrastructure. This role requires deep expertise in TCP/IP networking, packet analysis, and cross‑functional troubleshooting, combined with the ability to lead end‑to‑end investigations, influence architecture decisions, and communicate findings to both technical and business stakeholders. The role also leverages modern observability and network analysis tools to support comprehensive performance diagnostics. Lead end‑to‑end performance investigations across applications, middleware, infrastructure, and networks Capture and analyze TCP/IP packet data to diagnose latency, packet loss, retransmissions, and throughput issues Apply advanced TCP/IP knowledge to identify root causes of performance degradation and instability Distinguish between network, application, and infrastructure‑related performance issues Utilize enterprise observability and network analysis tools, including NetBrain, Datadog, and LiveNX/LiveWire Correlate packet data, metrics, logs, and traces to provide comprehensive end‑to‑end performance insights Collaborate with cross‑functional engineering teams to coordinate investigations and drive remediation efforts Assess business impact and prioritize issues based on risk and urgency Document technical findings and present results to technical and leadership stakeholders Define and promote performance engineering best practices across the organization Mentor engineers and contribute to improving overall performance engineering maturity What You’ll Need Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Engineering, or equivalent experience 15+ years of experience in performance engineering, systems engineering, or network engineering Expert‑level understanding of TCP/IP networking fundamentals Hands‑on experience capturing and analyzing network packets Strong knowledge of enterprise network and system architectures Experience with observability and network analysis tools such as NetBrain, Datadog, and LiveNX/LiveWire Strong written and verbal communication skills Experience in financial services or other regulated environments Experience with distributed systems, middleware platforms, and application architectures Experience with observability, APM, or network performance monitoring tools Prior experience in a Principal Engineer or equivalent senior technical leadership role Benefits You’ll Love We offer all the important things you’d want — like competitive salaries, an ownership stake in the company, medical and dental insurance, time off, a great 401k matching program, tuition assistance program, an employee volunteer program, and a wellness program. In addition, you’ll have the opportunity to bolster your business knowledge, learning the ins and outs of how successful companies operate and manage their finances, giving you invaluable hands‑on experience to help grow your career! About The Company Western Alliance Bank, Member FDIC, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Western Alliance Bancorporation. Serving clients nationwide, Western Alliance Bank includes six legacy bank brands — Alliance Association Bank, Alliance Bank of Arizona, Bank of Nevada, Bridge Bank, First Independent Bank and Torrey Pines Bank — that remain part of the company’s heritage, as well as AmeriHome Mortgage, a Western Alliance Bank Company. Western Alliance Bancorporation is committed to equal employment and will consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, sex, color, religion, age, nation origin, marital status, disability, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or genetic information. Western Alliance Bancorporation is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities. If you are an individual with a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to complete any part of the application process and/or need an alternative method of applying, please email View email address on click.appcast.io or call View phone number on click.appcast.io. When contacting us, please provide your contact information and state the nature of your accessibility issue. We will only respond to inquiries concerning requests that involve a reasonable accommodation in the application process. © Western Alliance Bancorporation #J-18808-Ljbffr Western Alliance Bank