Principal Software Engineer

Principal Software EngineerUS OAKVumedi is the largest video education platform for doctors worldwide, dedicated to advancing medical education through innovative video-based learning. Our mission is to empower healthcare professionals by providing them with access to the latest clinical knowledge and surgical techniques from experts around the globe. We curate a vast library of high-quality educational content, enabling users to enhance their skills, stay informed about industry trends, and improve patient outcomes. We are headquartered in Oakland, CA, and have additional offices in Minneapolis, MN, and Zagreb, Croatia.What you'll do:We're looking for a Principal Engineer / Product Architect to lead the next evolution of VuMedi's product architecture and technical direction. This is a hands-on, high-impact role - shaping how millions of doctors discover, learn, and collaborate through intelligent, scalable systems.You'll be both architect and builder, working directly with the CTO and engineering leaders across our US and Croatia teams to bring ambitious ideas from prototype to production.In this role, you will:Architect the future of Vumedi's platform — from scalable video systems to AI-powered content discovery and personalized learning experiences.Prototype and build AI workflows and agents powered by LLMs (Large Language Models) to transform how doctors interact with knowledge, surface insights, and discover content.Work closely with Product, Data, and AI teams to build, deploy, and monitor intelligent services (classification, search relevance, personalization, summarization).Define architectural standards across backend, frontend, and infrastructure layers — ensuring reliability, maintainability, and scalability.Partner with engineering leadership to drive system migrations and modernization (Python/Django backend, React frontend, AWS infrastructure).Mentor engineers across pods and raise the technical bar through design reviews, prototypes, and shared best practices.Lead technical exploration of new tools - from vector databases and RAG frameworks to real-time video personalization - to keep VuMedi on the edge of applied AI.This role is ideal for someone who loves to zoom out on system architecture and zoom in on code - someone who can imagine what VuMedi's platform looks like in five years, then open their editor and start building it.Who you are:6+ years of experience building and scaling software systems, ideally in consumer, data, or AI products.Proven success as a Principal Engineer, Staff Engineer, or Architect leading major system designs end-to-end.Strong proficiency in Python (required); deep familiarity with Django or other modern Python web frameworks.Frontend experience with React and modern JavaScript/TypeScript stacks.Expertise in designing distributed systems and cloud architectures on AWS (EC2, Lambda, S3, CloudFront, ECS, RDS, etc.).Experience with LLMs, AI agents, or AI-enabled workflows — building, integrating, or orchestrating intelligent systems.Strong understanding of data modeling, API design, caching, and asynchronous event-driven systems.Passion for hands-on prototyping and bridging product ideas with technical feasibility.Clear communicator who thrives in cross-functional settings and mentors others through influence, not authority.Why Work at Vumedi:Build technology that matters: Your work directly impacts how doctors learn and make decisions that save lives.Lead with impact: Partner directly with the CTO to shape technical strategy, architecture, and innovation roadmap.Build with AI: Work on applied LLM systems — from intelligent search to AI-driven content agents.Own your craft: End-to-end responsibility for building systems that scale globally and power mission-critical workflows.Collaborate globally: Join a world-class team of engineers, data scientists, and product leaders across the US and Europe.This is a hybrid role, working 3 days a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) in our Oakland office.