Principal Software Engineer
ClassCloud · United States
- Hybrid
- Full-time
- $180,000 / year
- United States
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Job highlights
- Lead K-12 AI platform development as senior IC.
- Own multi-tenant substrate, identity, and reliability.
- Solve hardest problems at K-12 scale.
- Leverage AI-first development and agentic workflows.
- Requires K-12 domain expertise and 10+ years experience.
About the role
Principal Software Engineer at ClassCloud
ClassCloud is revolutionizing K-12 education by building the leading platform for AI in schools. We are dedicated to providing safe, compliant, and operationally sound AI solutions tailored for school districts. Our mission is to ensure every student, teacher, administrator, and parent has access to the transformative power of AI, leveling the playing field for educational and career opportunities.
The Role
We are seeking a Principal Software Engineer to join ClassCloud as our most senior builder. This is a critical individual contributor role focused on tackling the most challenging problems on our platform and delivering solutions at the scale demanded by the K-12 sector. If you thrive on solving complex technical issues under tight deadlines, this is the opportunity for you.
What You'll Own
- The multi-tenant platform serving all schools, districts, and users on ClassCloud.
- Comprehensive identity, access, and audit systems across the entire K-12 hierarchy, ensuring every interaction is queryable and defensible.
- System-wide reliability, performance, and observability.
- Establishing the technical patterns and foundational architecture that guide the rest of the engineering team.
What We're Looking For
- Demonstrable experience in the K-12 domain, whether through working within a district, building educational software, or shipping products to K-12 customers. You understand the unique nuances of school districts, their calendars, FERPA, and operational constraints.
- Proven ability to build and scale platforms serving thousands of schools, with a deep understanding of multi-tenancy. Experience managing 7 AM incident responses or handling peak-load events like the first day of school is highly valued.
- A minimum of 10 years of experience shipping production software, with a significant background in multi-tenant platform development.
- Strong, well-informed opinions on identity management, authorization, auditing, and core platform architecture that ensures long-term product stability.
- AI fluency: You actively use AI tools like Claude, Cursor, or Copilot in your daily workflow and possess insights into agentic workflows. ClassCloud operates on an AI-first principle, expecting all roles to leverage AI proactively.
- Comfortable writing complex code and establishing best practices for the wider engineering team.
What We're Not Looking For
- Engineering managers who are no longer coding.
- Engineers who have primarily worked on small-scale or internal tools.
- SaaS engineers lacking specific K-12 domain knowledge.
- Individuals skeptical of AI technology.
Compensation and Benefits
- Base Salary: Competitive market rate.
- Equity: 1.5% to 2.5% with a five-year vest and a two-year cliff.
- Location: US-remote, requiring significant overlap with US business hours.
- Health Benefits: Fully covered health, dental, vision, short- and long-term disability with no employee contribution.
- Telemedicine: 24/7 free telemedicine for employees and dependents.
- Paid Time Off: Generous PTO policy.
- Hardware: Best-in-class equipment provided for the role.
- Culture: While work-life balance is important, the primary draw is the opportunity to build something new and impactful.
How We Work
Our development process is AI-first, enabling us to ship features rapidly. Our internal tools, including helpdesk, bug tracking, and triage, are AI-enhanced and operate in real-time. Experience with building agentic workflows is a plus.
If you have significant K-12 experience, can engineer at the scale required by schools, and are passionate about transforming educational possibilities, we encourage you to apply.
How to Apply
Applications should be submitted through the Gusto careers portal. Please include a resume and a brief paragraph detailing a K-12 problem you solved at scale using software, and what made that challenge particularly difficult for those outside the industry.
This is a direct hire position. We are not seeking assistance from recruiters, contractors, or placement services.
Key skills/competency
- Principal Software Engineer
- K-12 Education
- AI Platform
- Multi-tenant Architecture
- Identity and Access Management
- System Reliability
- Performance Engineering
- Observability
- Agentic Workflows
- Production Software Development
Skills & topics
- Principal Software Engineer
- K-12
- AI
- Platform Engineering
- Multi-tenancy
- Identity Management
- Software Architecture
- Scale
- Compliance
- FERPA
- Remote
- SaaS
- US-based
How to get hired
- Tailor Your Resume: Highlight your K-12 domain experience and your 10+ years of shipping multi-tenant platform software. Emphasize AI fluency and experience with complex coding challenges.
- Craft Your Application Paragraph: Clearly articulate a specific K-12 problem you solved at scale with software, detailing the unique industry challenges.
- Showcase Your Skills: Prepare to discuss your strong opinions on identity, authZ, audit, and platform architecture. Demonstrate AI fluency and proactive AI tool usage.
- Understand the Domain: Be ready to discuss your understanding of K-12 specific challenges like FERPA, district operations, and school calendars.
- Engage with the Mission: Articulate your passion for using technology and AI to improve K-12 student outcomes.
Technical preparation
Deep dive into multi-tenant architecture patterns.,Review K-12 specific regulations like FERPA.,Practice coding complex identity and access systems.,Explore agentic AI workflows and prompt engineering.
Behavioral questions
Describe a complex K-12 problem you solved.,Explain your approach to building scalable platforms.,How do you ensure AI is used effectively?,Discuss your experience with identity and audit systems.
Frequently asked questions
- What kind of K-12 experience is ClassCloud looking for in a Principal Software Engineer?
- ClassCloud seeks candidates with direct K-12 domain experience. This includes having worked within a school district, built software specifically for educational institutions, or shipped products that were used by real K-12 customers. They value candidates who understand the unique operational nuances of school districts, such as compliance (FERPA), operational calendars, and the distinct challenges compared to other industries.
- How important is AI fluency for the Principal Software Engineer role at ClassCloud?
- AI fluency is non-negotiable. ClassCloud operates on an AI-first principle. You are expected to actively use AI tools like Claude, Cursor, or Copilot in your daily workflow and have informed opinions about agentic workflows. The role requires leveraging AI proactively before human involvement in daily tasks and development processes.
- What does 'building at scale' mean for this Principal Software Engineer position?
- For this role, 'building at scale' means developing platforms that serve thousands of schools, not just hundreds of users. It involves thinking in terms of multi-tenancy (serving distinct school districts as separate tenants) rather than simple accounts. Experience managing high-demand events, like the first day of school login surges or critical incident responses, is highly relevant.
- Can an engineer with strong SaaS experience but no K-12 background be considered for the Principal Software Engineer role?
- While strong SaaS experience is a baseline, ClassCloud emphasizes that the K-12 domain knowledge is critical and 'is the job'. They are not looking to train engineers on the domain specifics. Therefore, candidates without direct K-12 context, even with strong SaaS skills, are unlikely to be a good fit for this particular Principal Software Engineer role.
- What is the application process for the Principal Software Engineer role at ClassCloud?
- The application process involves submitting a resume and a short paragraph through the Gusto careers portal. The paragraph should detail a K-12 problem you've solved with software at scale and explain why it was more challenging than typical industry assumptions might suggest. This is a direct hire position.
- What are the key technical responsibilities for the Principal Software Engineer at ClassCloud?
- The Principal Software Engineer will own the core multi-tenant platform serving all users. Key responsibilities include developing robust identity, access, and audit systems across the K-12 hierarchy, ensuring system-wide reliability, performance, and observability, and establishing the foundational technical patterns for the rest of the engineering team.