Principal Backend Engineer

Role Description

Parallels has an immediate vacancy for this role. We’re looking for an experienced Principal Backend Engineer to help us change the way the world works, with Parallels: anytime, anywhere, any-device productivity. Here, you’ll drive the outbound prospecting effort by executing strategic prospecting campaigns to target accounts and executive personas with our Parallels team.

This is the moment. It’s an exciting time at Parallels, with strong leadership, a refreshed brand, and a whole new approach to changing the way the world works. We’re at the forefront of a movement, and we want you to ride this wave with us.

We want you to be you. Our culture is built from the people who work here. We want you to feel safe to be who you are, take risks, and show us what you’ve got.

We know you have a life. We want to be part of it, but not all of it. At Parallels, we’re serious about empowering people to work when, how, and where they want. Couch? Sweatpants? Cool with us. We believe that happy employees mean happy customers.

Qualifications

• Expert knowledge of modern backend infrastructure and asynchronous messaging/storage (RabbitMQ, Celery, Kafka, PostgreSQL, Redis, etc.).
• Solid foundation in Python (or deep expertise in Go/C++/Rust with a working knowledge of Python).
• Extensive Backend Experience with a proven track record in principal-level roles designing complex, distributed systems.
• Pragmatic Architectural Mastery with expertise in designing highly cohesive, loosely coupled systems.
• Strong background in designing client APIs, including the entire API schema and contract of a system.
• Deep understanding of cloud architecture, containerization, and CI/CD pipelines.
• Demonstrated ability to influence engineering practices and drive technical consensus.
• Experience working in Agile/Scrum environments.

Requirements

• Skills and authority to coach and mentor the team.
• Experience with Azure as a cloud platform (nice to have).
• Experience designing and implementing GraphQL APIs (nice to have).
• Experience with Kubernetes or other container orchestration tools (nice to have).
• Experience implementing Identity Management in enterprise applications (SCIM provisioning, OAuth2, OpenID Connect, SAML) (nice to have).
• Polyglot background: Experience with Golang, Rust, or C++ for performance-critical domains (nice to have).
• Spec-Driven Development (SDD) & AI-Native Engineering (nice to have).

What You’ll Do

• Drive and define architectural roadmaps for backend systems.
• Architect and lead the strategic decomposition of a mature Django application into scalable, asynchronous microservices.
• Define technical strategy, tech stack, and how code is organized across repositories.
• Make critical build-vs-buy decisions, including evaluating whether to proceed with internal implementation vs. using a 3rd-party tool.
• Write code for the most complex, critical system mechanisms.
• Architect secure and scalable integration patterns across the system.
• Redefine system architecture & design by auditing existing microservices and implementing strict bounded contexts.
• Design robust, scalable, and standardized APIs.
• Act as the technical cornerstone for the engineering team.

Company Description

Parallels is a top VDI/EUC product helping businesses since 1999. Whether it's desktop or cloud, on-prem or hybrid, Parallels delivers speed, security, and affordability for the modern work environment.

It is our policy and practice to offer equal employment opportunities to all qualified applicants and employees without regard to race, color, age, religion, national origin, sex, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, veteran status, genetics, or any other protected characteristic.

Parallels is committed to an inclusive, barrier-free recruitment and selection process and work environment. If you are contacted for a job opportunity, please advise us of any accommodations required. Appropriate accommodation will be provided upon request as required by law.