Principal Software Engineer

Job Summary

The Principal Software Engineer is a cross-team technical leader who architects multi-team systems, drives long-term technical strategy, and influences engineering direction. This position will collaborate closely with relevant Technology team members in UX Research and Design, Content, Product and Program to solve complex user problems efficiently. This role will reduce system-wide complexity, design scalable system architecture, align technical strategy across teams toward common business goals, lead large multi-team initiatives, and shape architectural best practices and guardrails in your cross-team domain area. The Principal Software Engineer is expected to both work toward solving complex business problems as well as identify efficiencies across teams in their domain area and align these teams toward a technical vision to implement these efficiencies along with delivering the applicable product roadmaps.

Duties & Responsibilities

Architect multi-team systems for scalability, resilience, and maintainability.

Lead cross-team design reviews and ensure architectural coherence.

Break down ambiguous organizational goals into clear execution strategies.

Identify, actively manage a backlog for and resolve systemic reliability, performance, and productivity risks in your domain area.

Define the technical vision and strategy for their domain area.

Influence technical roadmaps across multiple teams and domains.

Mentor senior and lead software engineers; grow technical leadership capacity.

Lead modernization, tooling, and/or CI/CD improvements across TID for efficiency gains.

Facilitate alignment across engineering, UX, product, ops, and external partners to achieve business goals efficiently and effectively.

Participate in on-call rotation of technology systems and services as needed.

Perform all other duties and projects that may be assigned.

Additional responsibilities may include focus on one or more departments or locations. See applicable addendum for department or location specific functions. Supervision One to three (1-3) direct reports.

Minimum Requirements & Qualifications

Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution.

Ten (10) or more years of relevant professional experience in software engineering with demonstrated success architecting complex systems, reducing systemic reliability risks, and shaping technical strategy.

Five (5) years of technical leadership experience such as functional, program, or project management, driving system architecture and cross-team delivery in a modern software engineering environment.

Experience leading end-to-end delivery of complex projects requiring ingenuity and resourcefulness, including leading multi-team technical initiatives, often requiring technical alignment from multiple teams to execute.

Deep technical expertise across multiple domains.

Strong architectural judgment and ability to anticipate long-term implications.

Demonstrated experience aligning technical vision and strategy across multiple teams toward a common business or efficiency goal.

Exceptional communication and cross-functional alignment skills.

Demonstrated proficiency in at least two (2) programming languages from the TIOBE top 20.

Ability to participate in on-call rotation of technology systems and services.

As part of the selection process, candidates will be asked to complete and pass job-related technical assessments, which may include a software design diagramming exercise and/or a timed coding exercise.

Substitutions A high school diploma or GED with an additional seven (7) years of directly related experience substitutes for the bachelor's degree requirement.

An associate's degree from an accredited institution and an additional three (3) years of directly related experience substitutes for the bachelor's degree requirement.

A master's degree in a related subject substitutes for two (2) years of general experience.

A nationally recognized certification, or statewide/professional certification in a related field substitutes for one (1) year of experience.

Preferred Experience & Skills

Experience driving organization-wide technical programs.

Experience designing systems with major scale, reliability, or compliance constraints.

Experience with Elixir.

Experience with AWS.

Experience in public sector, transportation agency, and/or civic technology team.

Experience with Terraform / OpenTofu / Infrastructure as Code tools.

Experience developing code as part of an open-source project.

Knowledge of transit data standards (such as GTFS, GTFS-RT, TODS, TIDES)

Advanced degree from accredited institution in computer science or similar field.

Job Conditions

Ability to effectively read, comprehend, communicate, and respond to instructions, orders, signs, notices, inquiries, etc. in English.

Be at least eighteen (18) years of age, except if participating in an approved high school internship / co-op program.

Ability to commute to assigned work locations in the Boston, MA metro area, as required by the role.

Ability to provide internal and external customers with courteous and professional experiences.

Ability to work effectively, independently, and as part of a diverse workforce team (or supervise, if required).

Ability to uphold the rights and interests of the MBTA while building and maintaining effective relationships with employees and co-workers.

Ability to adhere to rules, regulations, collective bargaining agreements (if applicable), and policies of the MBTA, including the EEO, anti-discrimination, anti-harassment, and anti-retaliation policies.

Have a satisfactory work record for the two (2) years immediately prior to the closing date of this posting (unless if current student or recent graduate), including overall employment, job performance, discipline, and safety records (infractions and/or offenses occurring after the closing of the posting and before the filling of a vacancy may preclude a candidate from consideration for selection).

Ability to pass a Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) check, comprehensive background screening, and / or medical Clinic screening, potentially including physical examination and drug and alcohol screenings.

Ability to work all shifts and / or locations assigned, directed, or necessary for this position, including (for some transit / operations roles) up to twenty-four (24) hours per day, seven (7) days per week as necessary to accommodate severe weather conditions, emergencies, or any other circumstances that may potentially impact service or the safety of service.

Intern / co-op staff must be enrolled full or part-time in an accredited educational program and maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 2.5 for the entire duration of the internship / co-op. Additionally, interns / co-ops must have valid work authorization and U.S. Social Security Number prior to starting pre-employment screenings / pre-boarding, working in their positions, and throughout the duration of their program.

Disclaimers and Definitions

General Disclaimer: The statements contained in this job description are intended to describe a summary, general nature, and complexity of typical job functions and do not represent an exhaustive list of all duties, tasks, and responsibilities required of staff assigned to this position.

Application Completion: It is each applicant's responsibility to ensure application details are entered completely and correctly, including updated work and education histories (past and current). Incomplete applications may not be considered. Attachments do not substitute for application fields. The recruitment team does not have access to existing employee data / history.

Application Deadlines: Applicants should apply as soon as possible, as the MBTA may stop considering applicants after a sufficiently large applicant pool is established.

Work Environment: The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here-in are representative of those an employee may encounter while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations can be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions. See job description for role-specific requirements.

Work Eligibility: All employees must be legally authorized to work in the United States and on an unrestricted basis. The MBTA does not have an employer work sponsorship program. However, if you have unrestricted work authorization, or are sponsored by a separate entity, you are welcome to apply. Further, all persons hired will require a U.S. Social Security Number prior to starting the position and employees will be required to complete a Form I-9 to verify their identity and eligibility to work in the U.S.

Interviews: Candidates should ensure they arrive on time, are prepared, can remain for the duration, and if remote, are in a quiet place without distraction, for the interview. Candidates who do not attend their interview without advance authorization, including an email confirmation of a rescheduled time/date from Human Resources, will be considered a no-show and disqualified from consideration for the position. Related to rescheduling, on a one-time basis, and due to something emergent, you may be allowed to reschedule the interview. In addition, Human Resources may require documentation supporting the request. However, should you need to reschedule, you will need to contact your Recruit