Principal Software Engineer-SRE

Our world is transforming, and PTC is leading the way. Our software brings the physical and digital worlds together, enabling companies to improve operations, create better products, and empower people in all aspects of their business. Our people make all the difference in our success. Today, we are a global team of nearly 7,000 and our main objective is to create opportunities for our team members to explore, learn, and grow – all while seeing their ideas come to life and celebrating the differences that make us who we are and the work we do possible. Principal Software Engineer (SRE)-Onshape Hybrid-Boston, MAAbout the RoleOnshape’s Site Reliability Engineering team is looking for a Principal Software Engineer to play a critical role in ensuring the long‑term reliability, scalability, and operational excellence of our platform.As a Principal Software Engineer, you will operate with a high degree of autonomy and influence. You will lead complex, cross‑organization reliability initiatives, shape reliability strategy, and serve as a technical authority and trusted advisor across engineering.Your work will directly shape the experience of our customers by ensuring the platform is fast, resilient, and dependable. As a Principal Software Engineer, you will help protect customer trust by driving reliability across the entire system lifecycle.This role is ideal for engineers who enjoy solving ambiguous, high‑impact problems at scale, influencing system design across teams, and raising the reliability bar for an entire organization.What You’ll DoOwn Reliability at ScaleLead design, implementation, and evolution of reliability, availability, and resiliency strategies for large‑scale distributed systems written primarily in JavaApply deep experience operating complex, distributed systems to guide architectural decisions, reliability strategies, and long‑term system evolutionIdentify systemic risks in application architecture, data flows, and infrastructure, and drive architectural improvements that measurably improve availability, performance, and scalabilitySet and evolve reliability standards, best practices, and operational principles across R&DDrive Operational ExcellenceLead efforts to prevent, detect, and mitigate incidents through technical improvements and operational maturityServe as a senior coordination point during major incidents, helping manage response and guide long‑term remediationChampion blameless post-incident reviews and ensure learnings translate into durable system improvementsReduce Toil Through EngineeringApply advanced software engineering practices to eliminate manual work, reduce operational load, and improve system observabilityDesign and build internal platforms, automation, and tooling that support Java‑based services and their operational needsRaise the bar on monitoring, alerting, and SLO/SLI adoption across systemsLead Through Influence and CollaborationPartner deeply with product engineers, architects, and engineering leadership to ensure reliability and operability are first‑class concerns in system designReview and influence designs for complex systems involving technologies such as datastores, messaging systems, and coordination servicesServe as a technical mentor and coach for SREs and other engineers, raising overall engineering and operational maturityShape Strategy and DirectionContribute to longer‑term reliability and infrastructure strategy aligned with business growthStay current with industry trends in SRE, distributed systems, and the Java ecosystem, turning insights into practical improvementsHelp define what “great reliability” looks like for the organization and how we measure itWhat We’re Looking ForRequired Experience & ExpertiseUS Citizenship or Permanent Residents only due to ITAR requirements.Ability to work hybrid from the Boston office. And be available for on-call rotation once every 10 weeks.10+ years of experience in software engineering, site reliability engineering, or systems engineering rolesExtremely strong proficiency with the Java programming language and its ecosystem, including building, debugging, and operating production Java servicesDeep experience operating complex, distributed systems in production environmentsStrong software engineering background, with a track record of delivering high‑quality, maintainable codeTechnical StrengthExpert understanding of incident management, service reliability, and performance engineeringStrong hands‑on experience with observability (metrics, logs, traces), capacity planning, and SLO‑driven reliabilityDeep familiarity with modern cloud‑based infrastructure, CI/CD pipelines, and infrastructure‑as‑code practicesAbility to reason about failure modes across application, data, and infrastructure layersLeadership & InfluenceDemonstrated ability to lead complex initiatives that span teams and organizational boundariesComfortable making high‑impact technical decisions in ambiguous environmentsStrong communicator who can influence design and operational decisions across a wide range of stakeholdersMindsetSystems thinker focused on root‑cause analysis and durable fixesCalm and effective under pressure, especially during high‑severity incidentsCurious, data‑driven, and committed to continuous improvementNice to HaveExperience operating or supporting systems using technologies such as MongoDB, ZooKeeper, and RabbitMQBackground in performance tuning and scalability optimization of Java servicesExperience setting or influencing engineering standards at the organization levelPrior involvement in evolving SRE or platform practices in a growing engineering organizationExperience designing, operating, or scaling systems in cloud environments such as AWS (preferred), including familiarity with core services, networking models, and reliability featuresWhy This Role MattersThe Principal Software Engineer role is critical to ensuring our platform continues to meet the reliability expectations of our customers as we grow. Your work will have a broad and lasting impact—not only on individual systems, but on how reliability and operational excellence are approached across engineering.PTC carefully considers a wide variety of factors when determining compensation. The anticipated annual salary range for this position is between $131,000 - 200,000. The salary range reflects a good-faith estimate of compensation at the time of posting. Actual compensation may vary based on a candidate's skills, qualifications, experience, and location. Additionally, candidates may be eligible for a performance-based bonus. Employees also have the opportunity to become a PTC shareholder through our employee share purchase program (ESPP), which allows for the purchase of discounted PTC stock. Certain roles may also be eligible for participation in our equity programs. Employees may be eligible for medical, dental and vision insurance, paid time off and sick leave, tuition reimbursement, 401(k) contributions and employer match, flexible spending accounts, life insurance, disability coverage and, if you are an office-assigned employee, a generous commuter subsidy. All total rewards and benefits programs aresubject to applicable plan eligibility and other terms and conditions. For more information about PTC’s comprehensive benefits, please visit our Careers Page. Applications will be accepted on an on-going basis. This position is not eligible for employment-based immigration sponsorship. Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States without requiring current or future sponsorship from PTC.At PTC, we believe in the power of diverse ideas and perspectives. As a global company that values and respects all identities, cultures, and perspectives, we strive to create an inclusive PTC for ALL through an environment where everyone feels like they belong and are empowered to bring their true, authentic selves to work. Proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer, we welcome applicants from all backgrounds and hire without regard to race, national origin, religion, age, color, ethnicity, ancestry, marital status, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by local, state, or federal laws, rules, or regulations. It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.For more information about PTC’s comprehensive benefits and our AI usage, please visit our Careers Page ( Applications will be accepted on an on-going basis until the opportunity is filled.PTC endeavors to make ptc.com/careers accessible to all users. If you would like to contact us regarding the accessibility of our website or need assistance completing the application process, please contact PTC's Talent Acquisition team at View email address on click.appcast.io. This contact information is for accommodation requests only and cannot be used to inquire about the status of applications.Life at PTC is about more than working with today’s most cutting-edge technologies to transform the physical world. It’s about showing up as you are and working alongside some of today’s most talented industry leaders to transform the world around you. If you share our passion for problem-solving through innovation, you’ll likely become just as passionate about the PTC experience as we are. Are you ready to explore your next career move with us?We respect the privacy rights of individuals and are committed to handling Personal Information responsibly and in accordance with all applicable privacy and data protection laws. Review our Privacy Policy here."SummaryLocation: Boston, MA, USAType: Full time