Principal Software Engineer

Staff Engineer or Principal Engineer -- Colorado Stealth Startup Join an elite, venture-backed team building next-generation, AI-powered collaboration tools for the enterprise. Technical Integrity has been retained to lead the search for a rapidly growing startup developing AI systems that improve how large organizations think, communicate, and make decisions. Their product uses cutting-edge AI to identify and resolve coordination gaps automatically --- helping teams operate more intelligently and efficiently at scale. Following a recent, substantial, oversubscribed-round of funding (by names you will certainly recognize), the company is expanding its world-class engineering team in Colorado and beyond. What You'll Do Architect and implement core systems for an AI-powered enterprise collaboration platform, as a core engineer. Define, design, and deliver innovative solutions in distributed systems, backend logic, and AI integration. Collaborate closely with product, design, and AI research peers to shape both strategy and implementation. Ensure infrastructure reliability, scalability, and security through modern cloud and Kubernetes technologies. Work with other Senior Staff Engineers to foster a culture of technical excellence, autonomy, and curiosity. Ideal Candidate Profile Top 20% Engineer: Strong analytical ability, judgment, and breadth of experience. You think from first principles and have a track record of solving complex, real-world problems. Hands-On Builder: You're happiest writing code and shipping production systems in a fast paced startup --- not just managing others. Self-Directed & Autonomous: You thrive in a lightly structured environment, decomposing ambiguous problems and independently driving them to completion. Backend, Security & Systems Focused: Most work centers on backend and business logic development and integrations. Security-centric SRE experience is preferred. Frontend development is helpful but not central. Startup & Enterprise Experience: You balance startup agility with enterprise-scale thinking and rigor. Smart, Not Hard: You work efficiently and sustainably, typically producing exceptional results within a 45--50 hour workweek. AI & LLM Experience: You're excited by building in an *AI-native environment* , leveraging Claude Code and other LLM-assisted tools to enhance development velocity and creativity. Collaborative & Solution-Oriented: No lonewolves. You communicate thoughtfully, contribute positively to discussions, and pair every critique with a constructive solution. How We Work We value leverage over brute force --- working smart, not long hours. Engineers are trusted to define their own work, prioritize high-impact projects, and deliver results with minimal oversight. The team collaborates through lightweight, peer-driven conversations rather than rigid sprint cycles or daily standups. You'll work alongside senior peers solving challenging systems problems in a small, high-trust team where every hire makes a visible impact. This is an environment for creative, disciplined problem solvers who thrive in freedom and accountability. Technical Environment and required experience: AI-native development using Claude Code and LLM-assisted tools. Work at the bleeding edge of containerization, Agentic platforms, MCP, and distributed systems . A modern, cloud-first infrastructure built on Knowledge Graph using Neo4J and Terraform and Kubernetes . High-impact autonomy: engineers research, design, and deliver major systems end-to-end. Interview Process Step 1: Introductory conversation with Technical Integrity. Step 2: Real-world coding exercise (typically ~4 hours). * This is the main part of our interview process and replaces multiple rounds. * It reflects our AI-native environment and requires use of Claude Code and modern containerization tools. * Candidates often find it a valuable preview of what day-to-day work feels like here. Step 3: Three collaborative interviews with engineering leadership. Compensation & Benefits Competitive salary and meaningful equity packages. Recent offers for comparable roles have ranged from $185,000--$250,000 base , plus meaningful signing bonuses and equity stakes. (Equity is the big story- take time to learn about that story throughout your interviews and you will be glad you did). Very solid Health benefits (Medical, Dental, and Vision) 401K match Flexible work arrangements --- Colorado-based 1-2 days per week in Boulder. Opportunity to collaborate with world-class technical peers on groundbreaking AI systems. #J-18808-Ljbffr Technical Integrity