Principal Software Engineer

About Goose Goose is building the operating system for multi-service pet care businesses — boarding, daycare, grooming, and training. Our platform streamlines operations, enhances the customer experience, and drives revenue growth. Headquartered in Chicago, we blend modern technology with industry know-how to serve an essential but historically underserved market. About the role As Goose builds the operational backbone for the next generation of pet care businesses, we’re launching a new platform focused on workforce coordination, task management, and operational tooling. This is a foundational engineering leadership role responsible for shaping a zero-to-one platform spanning operational systems, web and mobile experiences, AI-powered workflows, and scalable infrastructure that powers day-to-day business operations at scale. What you’ll do Lead the design, development, and architecture of a new operations platform focused on task management, workforce optimization, and operational tooling. Build the initial versions of core systems, workflows, and user experiences from the ground up. Define the foundational architecture, engineering standards, and technical direction for a new operational platform. Build reliable, well-tested, and maintainable software, including secure APIs, operational systems, web applications, and mobile product experiences. Design foundational systems and workflows supporting operational coordination, workforce management, and internal platform capabilities. Lead development and operational ownership of customer-facing web and mobile applications, along with the supporting platform infrastructure. Drive technical decisions around scalable mobile development patterns and rapid multi-platform deployment workflows. Lead integrations with external systems, operational tooling, and third-party platforms. Leverage AI-assisted engineering tools and workflows to improve development velocity, software quality, debugging, testing, documentation, and operational efficiency. Identify opportunities to incorporate AI-powered functionality and workflows into customer-facing and operational product experiences. Partner closely with product managers, operations, leadership, and engineering teams to shape product direction, operational workflows, technical strategy, and execution priorities. Establish core architectural patterns, operational frameworks, and engineering best practices from the earliest stages of the platform lifecycle. Identify and proactively address risks related to scalability, reliability, security, and long-term maintainability. Create and maintain clear technical and product documentation for the systems and experiences you own. Mentor and influence engineers across teams through technical leadership, system design guidance, and engineering best practices. Who you are A systems-minded engineer who enjoys building new products and platforms from zero to one. Comfortable operating in ambiguous environments and helping shape both product and technical direction. Passionate about building durable systems and scalable operational platforms. Able to balance rapid iteration with strong engineering fundamentals and long-term thinking. Comfortable influencing architecture and execution across multiple domains without relying solely on direct authority. Qualifications 7+ years of professional experience building and scaling complex distributed systems. Experience leading development of new products or platforms from initial concept through production launch. Deep expertise designing and operating large-scale production systems and infrastructure. Experience developing, releasing, and maintaining production mobile applications using modern cross-platform or rapid deployment frameworks. Significant experience leading complex technical initiatives across multiple teams. Strong experience designing resilient APIs, service-oriented architectures, and operationally mature systems. Strong experience with TypeScript, Node.js, React.js, SQL, and AWS-native infrastructure. Experience using AI-assisted development tools within engineering workflows. Experience incorporating AI-powered functionality or experiences into customer-facing products. Strong understanding of scalability, reliability, security, and operational excellence. Proven track record influencing engineering direction and mentoring engineers across teams. Excellent communication skills with the ability to align technical and non-technical stakeholders. Our tech stack Frontend: React, TypeScript, Vite, Turborepo, MUI Backend: Node.js, Express, Prisma, Serverless Database: Postgres (Aurora), Redshift, DynamoDB, S3 Compute: Lambda, Fargate, Step Functions AI: Kiro, Claude, Bedrock, OpenAI Infrastructure as Code: CloudFormation, CDK Cloud Platform: AWS (API Gateway, Cognito, EventBridge, CloudFront, CloudWatch) What we offer Competitive salary and meaningful equity Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance: 85% coverage for employees, 60% for dependents Unlimited PTO (vacation, sick, personal, plus 5 company holidays) Direct mentorship from one of our strongest PMs on the highest-leverage product surface at the company Plenty of opportunity to grow with the company #J-18808-Ljbffr