Principal Software Engineer - Next-Generation API & AI Platform Architecture

SpyCloud is on a mission to make the internet a safer place by disrupting the criminal underground. SpyCloud's solutions thwart cyberattacks and protect more than 4 billion accounts worldwide. Cybersecurity is an exciting, evolving space, and being at the forefront of the fight to disrupt cybercrime makes SpyCloud a special place to work. If you're driven to align your career with a fantastic mission, look no further!

*The ideal candidate for this role would work hybrid (2 days per week) in our Austin, Texas headquarters. We are also open to candidates who are remote in the United States, but can travel to our headquarters 1-2 times per quarter*

We are seeking a Principal Engineer to lead the hands-on architecture and development of our next-generation data and intelligence APIs. This role is deeply technical and execution-focused, responsible for defining API contracts, building production services, and architecting the platform interfaces high-performance throughput, agentic workflows, and external customer integrations.

You will operate at the intersection of distributed systems, data platforms, and agentic orchestration, ensuring our APIs are scalable, governed, observable, and designed for long-term evolution. This role requires strong systems thinking, high-quality implementation standards, and the ability to translate platform strategy into production-grade services.

This is a hands-on engineering role with architectural authority.

What You'll Do:

• Next-Generation API Architecture
• Architect and implement customer-facing data and intelligence APIs with clear versioning, SLAs, and backward compatibility.
• Define and enforce API contracts for:
• Low latency, high throughput endpoints
• Agentic workflows (tools, actions, state transitions, handoffs)
• Context retrieval and enrichment
• Design APIs as durable platform interfaces, not thin wrappers over storage systems.
• Establish standards for schema governance, payload design, and service boundaries.
• Agentic & ML Platform Integration
• Architect service layers that support agentic workflows, including orchestration interfaces, guardrails, and runtime observability.
• Build API surfaces that expose model outputs safely and consistently.
• Collaborate with MLEs and Data Scientists to move models from experimentation into robust inference services.
• Ensure proper lifecycle management, monitoring, and rollback mechanisms for ML-powered endpoints.
• Data Platform & Context Hubs
• Design and implement service layers that sit on top of the gold-layer system of record.
• Build and evolve context hubs derived from authoritative systems of record, enabling consistent entity, identity, or risk context for downstream services.
• Ensure APIs are aligned with medallion architecture principles and platform data contracts.
• Prevent fragmentation by maintaining strong coupling to canonical schemas and governed data models.
• Distributed Systems & Reliability
• Design high-throughput, low-latency services supporting batch and streaming workloads.
• Implement scalable infrastructure patterns on AWS.
• Ensure strong observability, error handling, performance tuning, and cost awareness.
• Drive infrastructure-as-code practices and production readiness standards.
• Technical Leadership
• Serve as a senior architectural voice in design reviews.
• Raise the bar on code quality, system design, and operational rigor.
• Mentor engineers on API design, distributed systems, and ML integration patterns.
• Influence platform direction through technical depth rather than organizational authority

Requirements:

• 10+ years of experience building distributed systems, APIs, or large-scale data platforms.
• Deep experience designing and implementing customer-facing APIs as long-lived products.
• Strong understanding of schema governance, versioning strategies, and contract design.
• Experience productionizing ML models and exposing inference services.
• Experience designing or integrating agentic or autonomous workflows.
• Experience building service layers on top of systems of record or semantic data layers.
• Strong background in distributed systems reliability, observability, and scalability.
• Proficiency in Go & Python (and/or backend service languages).
• Hands-on experience with Databricks/Snowflake
• Strong experience with AWS infrastructure and infrastructure-as-code tools

Nice to Have:

• AWS services including Redshift, S3, EC2, and related cloud-native tooling.
• Data stores including Elasticsearch, PostgreSQL, Redis, and graph databases (e.g., Neo4j or AWS Neptune).
• Experience building high-performance APIs and service layers over heterogeneous data systems.
• Familiarity with Databricks/Snowflake and/or SageMaker is a plus.
• Experience in cybersecurity, identity, fraud, or risk systems is a plus.

Base Salary Range: $181,000 - $235,000

The salary range reflects the expected base compensation for a fully qualified candidate at this level based on experience, qualifications, and market data at the time of posting.

U.S.-Based Benefits + Perks (for Full Time Employees):

At SpyCloud, we are committed to working alongside individuals who are equally passionate about preventing cybercrime, regardless of their department or role. Guided by our core values in all business decisions, we prioritize unity in our mission and ensure all SpyCloud employees have the support and benefits they need to stay focused on our goals. In addition to our engaging workspace in South Austin, flexible and remote-friendly work options, and competitive salary package, we offer our employees a comprehensive benefits package that includes:

• 401(k) with Employer Contribution
• Health, Vision, and Dental Insurance
  • Health Savings Account (HSA) available with Employer Contribution
• Employer Paid Life, Short-term, and Long-term Disability Insurance
• Generous PTO Plan and 16 paid holidays per year

U.K.-Based Benefits + Perks (for Full Time Employees):

• Retirement Savings Plan with Employer Contribution
• Employer Provided Private Health Insurance and Healthcare Cashplan
• Employer Paid Life Insurance and Income Replacement
• Generous Holiday Plan and 14 paid holidays per year

About SpyCloud:

SpyCloud transforms recaptured darknet data to disrupt cybercrime. Its automated identity threat protection solutions use advanced analytics and AI to accelerate investigations and protect workforce, consumer, and supplier identities from the threats that matter most: authentication bypass, session hijacking, malicious insiders, account takeover, ransomware, and fraud. Its data from malware-infected devices, successful phishes, combolists, and third-party breaches also powers many popular dark web monitoring and identity theft protection offerings. Customers include 7 of the Fortune 10, along with hundreds of global enterprises, mid-sized companies, and government agencies worldwide. Headquartered in Austin, TX, SpyCloud is home to more than 250 cybersecurity experts whose mission is to protect businesses and consumers from the stolen identity data criminals are using to target them now.

To learn more and see insights on your company's exposed data, visit spycloud.com.

Our Mission:

Our mission is to make the internet a safer place by disrupting the criminal underground. Together with our customers and partners, we aim to end criminals' ability to profit from stolen information.

Who We Are:

SpyCloud is a place for innovative, collaborative, and problem-solvers to thrive. Individually, we're amazing, but together, we're unstoppable. We celebrate diversity and various perspectives and aim to create an inclusive and supportive environment for all. We are proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer of choice. All aspects of employment decisions will be based on merit, performance, and business needs. We do not discriminate on the basis of any status protected under federal, state, or local law. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, reproductive health decisions, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, genetic information, political views or activity, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. Women, minorities, individuals with disabilities, and protected veterans are encouraged to apply. SpyCloud complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.

SpyCloud expressly prohibits any form of workplace harassment. Improper interference with the ability of SpyCloud's employees to perform their job duties may result in discipline up to and including discharge. SpyCloud shares the right to work and participates in the E-Verify program in all locations.

If you need assistance or accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us.

Our Culture:

Our culture is something really special. We're all driven to disrupt the cybercriminal economy as we keep customer accounts safe from compromise. We support a truly worthy and serious mission, but we have fun doing it together. If you are driven, inventive, and collaborative, you'll fit right in.

SpyCloud's Recruitment Policy:

We will never ask an applicant for sensitive or personal financial information during the recruitment process. We advise all applicants seeking employment with SpyCloud to review available information on recruitment fraud. Anyone who suspects that they have been contacted by someone falsely representing SpyCloud should email View email address on click.appcast.io.

Compensation Transparency Policy:

At SpyCloud, we believe in transparency and fairness in compensation. We strive to ensure that all employees are fairly compensated for their contributions, and we openly discuss our compensation philosophy and structure. We are committed to providing competitive salaries and benefits packages to attract and retain top talent, and we encourage open dialogue and feedback regarding compensation matters.

Learn more and apply: SpyCloud Careers

SpyCloud is not sponsoring visas at this time.

For applicants residing in California, please click here to read SpyCloud's CCPA Notice.

For applicants residing in the UK, please click here to read SpyCloud's Employee Privacy Notice.