Principal Software Engineer

To get the best candidate experience, please consider applying for a maximum of 3 roles within 12 months to ensure you are not duplicating efforts.Job CategorySoftware EngineeringJob DetailsAbout SalesforceSalesforce is the #1 AI CRM, where humans with agents drive customer success together. Here, ambition meets action. Tech meets trust. And innovation isn’t a buzzword — it’s a way of life. The world of work as we know it is changing and we're looking for Trailblazers who are passionate about bettering business and the world through AI, driving innovation, and keeping Salesforce's core values at the heart of it all.Ready to level-up your career at the company leading workforce transformation in the agentic era? You’re in the right place! Agentforce is the future of AI, and you are the future of Salesforce.Salesforce is seeking a Principal Software Engineer (PMTS) to join the Tableau Agent Analytics Agentforce Process Intelligence team. You will act as a technical leader across one or more teams, owning the end-to-end architecture of backend services and full-stack applications that enable enterprise customers to discover, simulate, and optimize their business processes at scale.This role sits at the intersection of large-scale distributed systems, data-intensive analytics, and cloud platform engineering. You will be a leading technical representative across the application stack — negotiating interfaces with peer teams, driving architectural alignment across the product, and setting the bar for non-functional quality (availability, multi-tenancy, security, performance) across GRPC and python application services. Your ImpactDrive the architecture, design, implementation, and delivery of secure, highly scalable backend services deployed on Kubernetes in a cellular, multi-AZ cloud architecture, and act as the technical leader for one or more teams.Architect authentication and authorization integrations with identity providers (session-based auth, mTLS for service-to-service communication) and partner with Security on threat modeling, AppSec, and AI safety guardrails for new features.Define SLIs and SLOs for the team's features and services in partnership with Product, design rollout strategy and telemetry that spans pre-release / canary / stagger periods, and lead service ownership: on-call rotations, ops and readiness reviews, runbooks, and automation.Set test strategy across the pillar — unit, integration, functional, regression, and performance — and approve test plans for cross-team initiatives.Write architectural documents, design specifications, and test plans for projects that span multiple teams; lead and participate in design reviews; and provide constructive feedback on peer teams' designs.Provide technical coaching and mentorship to LMTS and SMTS engineers on the team and on peer teams, primarily through reviews; recognize which large designs to delegate and which to implement yourself.Manage the technical backlog so that team goals and long-term technical debt are both addressed, and propose standards and best practices where they don't yet exist across the organization.Represent the team to VP-level engineering leadership, Product, and external stakeholders — clearly and concisely explaining initiatives, high-level architectures, and trade-offs; act as a technical liaison for Customer Trust when needed.Champion Customer Trust within the team: reinforce non-functional requirements, occasionally engage directly with customers to validate that features solve real problems, and lead critical problem management to limit customer impact.Required Qualifications10+ years of professional software development experience, with a proven track record of shipping enterprise SaaS at scale and operating in a Principal-level technical leadership capacity.Strong proficiency in Java and/or Python, with production-level fluency across multiple languages in real systems.Hands-on experience designing, operating, and evolving highly available distributed systems on AWS or comparable cloud platforms, with 99.99%+ availability targets.Demonstrated ability to drive proactive threat modeling and partner with security/compliance on AppSec, vulnerability management, and AI safety considerations for new features.Hands-on experience with automated testing including unit, integration, and functional testing (JUnit, pytest, Selenium, Playwright), and a track record of defining test strategy for complex, cross-team systems.Proven ability to lead technical initiatives across multiple teams, mentor LMTS/SMTS engineers, and drive architectural alignment across organizational boundaries.Exceptional communication skills — including the ability to present technical strategy and trade-offs to VP-level engineering leadership, Product, and external customers.A related technical degree required.Build and ship high-quality, production-grade software using modern engineering practices, with AI as a core part of your development workflow by pushing the boundaries of AI development tools to deliver secure, optimized, and high-quality code.Design and orchestrate complex systems where AI agents integrate seamlessly into human workflows, driving efficiency and innovation at scale.Contribute to building and maintaining the shared system context, an explicit repository of system designs, constraints, and standards that enables AI to operate accurately and reliably.Critically evaluate code (human or AI-generated) for correctness, quality, security, and performanc​eA demonstrated, genuine AI-first approach to engineering — using AI to move faster, build fluency across the stack, and contribute well beyond your core specialty.Experience using AI tools (e.g., Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Codex, Cursor, etc.) in development workflows.Advanced prompt engineering skills and the ability to write precise, structured prompts and cultivate the system context that makes AI outputs reliable, secure, and production-ready.Preferred QualificationsFamiliarity with multi-tenant SaaS ecosystems and cloud platform engineering, including tenant-isolation patterns across database, cache, and storage layers.Expertise in shaping experiences with LLMs and agents.Proficient with evaluation of ML model performance.Experience with Agile development methodologies, test-driven development (TDD), and zero-downtime deployment patterns (blue/green, rolling releases).Prior experience as a Principal Engineer or similar leadership role, driving significant technical initiatives across multiple teams.Familiarity with the business process management, process mining, or workflow automation domains.Unleash Your PotentialWhen you join Salesforce, you’ll be limitless in all areas of your life. Our benefits and resources support you to find balance and be your best, and our AI agents accelerate your impact so you can do your best. Together, we’ll bring the power of Agentforce to organizations of all sizes and deliver amazing experiences that customers love. Apply today to not only shape the future — but to redefine what’s possible — for yourself, for AI, and the world.AccommodationsIf you need a reasonable accommodation during the application or the recruiting process, please submit a request via this Accommodations Request Form.Please note that Salesforce uses artificial intelligence (AI) tools to help our recruiters assess and evaluate candidates’ resumes and qualifications throughout the recruiting process. Humans will always make any candidate selection and hiring decisions. Please see our Candidate Privacy Statement for more information about how we use your personal data and your rights, including with regard to use of AI tools and opt out options.Posting StatementSalesforce is an equal opportunity employer and maintains a policy of non-discrimination with all employees and applicants for employment. What does that mean exactly? It means that at Salesforce, we believe in equality for all. And we believe we can lead the path to equality in part by creating a workplace that’s inclusive, and free from discrimination. Know your rights: workplace discrimination is illegal. Any employee or potential employee will be assessed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications – without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, transgender status, age, disability, veteran or marital status, political viewpoint, or other classifications protected by law. This policy applies to current and prospective employees, no matter where they are in their Salesforce employment journey. It also applies to recruiting, hiring, job assignment, compensation, promotion, benefits, training, assessment of job performance, discipline, termination, and everything in between. Recruiting, hiring, and promotion decisions at Salesforce are fair and based on merit. The same goes for compensation, benefits, promotions, transfers, reduction in workforce, recall, training, and education.In the United States, compensation offered will be determined by factors such as location, job level, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Certain roles may be eligible for incentive compensation, equity, and benefits. Salesforce offers a variety of benefits to help you live well including: time off programs, medical, dental, vision, mental health support, paid parental leave, life and disability insurance, 401(k), and an employee stock purchasing program. More details about company benefits can be found at the following link: Salesforce, we believe in equitable compensation practices that reflect the dynamic nature of labor markets across various regions. The typical base salary range for this position is $172,500 - $313,700 annually. The range represents base salary only, and does not include company bonus, incentive for sales roles, equity or benefits, as applicable.SummaryLocation: Washington - BellevueType: Full time