Principal Software Engineer

About Recorded Future

With 1,000+ intelligence professionals serving over 1,900 clients worldwide, Recorded Future is the world’s most advanced, and largest, intelligence company!

We’re looking for a Principal Software Engineer to help design, build, and scale the systems that power our Attack Surface Intelligence module. You’ll be taking ownership of critical data pipelines responsible for the ingestion and distribution of critical intelligence signals, both internally and directly to customers via the product. The Attack Surface Intelligence Data Engineering team is responsible for two key datasets: our holistic global internet inventory and the technical artifacts of our customers’ attack surface.

This role reports directly to the Engineering Owner for Attack Surface Intelligence Data and is ideal for someone who enjoys writing clean, maintainable code and thrives in distributed systems environments. You'll work closely with product management and other engineering teams to drive technical strategy and ensure our systems are reliable, performant, and insightful.

What You’ll Do as a Principal Software Engineer

• Lead the design and implementation of backend services and APIs in Python
• Architect and evolve microservice-based systems for scalability and resilience
• Collaborate with product managers and cross-functional partners to align technical work with business goals
• Proactively identify and resolve data and integration issues by diving deep into our pipelines and systems
• Drive observability and operational excellence across services
• Mentor other engineers through code reviews and design discussions
• Coordinate with internal stakeholders outside of the Attack Surface Intelligence team to inform solutions for data transfers around the greater Recorded Future ecosystem
• Contribute to technical roadmaps and long-term platform strategy

What You'll Bring

• Proven experience designing & maintaining scalable APIs and microservices in Python leveraging tools like Kafka, Clickhouse, and Elasticsearch.
• Deep understanding of distributed systems and service-oriented architecture
• Comfortable exploring data to debug, validate assumptions, and drive better system behavior
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to work across teams to align on goals and priorities
• Track record of operating independently and driving complex projects, especially with a geographically distributed team
• Experience with informing and driving coding and design standards within a team

Why You Should Join Recorded Future

Recorded Future employees (or “Futurists”), represent over 40 nationalities and embody our core values of having high standards, practicing inclusion, and acting ethically. Our dedication to empowering clients with intelligence to disrupt adversaries has earned us a 4.6-star user rating on G2 and more than 50% of Fortune 100 companies as customers.

Key skills/competency

• Python
• Microservices
• APIs
• Distributed Systems
• Kafka
• Elasticsearch
• Clickhouse
• Data Pipelines
• Software Architecture
• Technical Leadership