Principal Software Engineer - Software Architect (hands on)

Be essential at Cars Commerce
At Cars Commerce, we’re fanatical about simplifying everything about car buying and selling. We do right by our customers and consumers to better connect the industry with simplified and tierless technology to enhance, measure and drive local automotive retail. Whether through our No.1 most recognized marketplace, Cars.com, our industry-leading digital experience, Dealer Inspire, our trade and appraisal technology, AccuTrade, or our new Cars Commerce Media Network, Cars Commerce is essential for success in the automotive industry.  
No one ever travels alone here: at its core, Cars Commerce is collaboration. In fact, it’s built into the very fabric of our shared values. We like to say we Rise Together – putting people at the center of what we do, from consumer to customer to community. Life at Cars Commerce makes it easy when we share the ethos to be Open to All, encouraging open-minded communication because we know diverse thinking yields better outcomes. But critical to our success is Caring to Challenge and Taking Ownership, fueling a competitive spirit in a respectful environment where we think about tomorrow but act today. At our foundation, we have integrity, Doing the Right Thing, even when it’s hard. It’s our shared commitment to these values that makes Cars Commerce a place where growth becomes not only possible, but downright unavoidable.
But don’t take our word for it. As a U.S. News & World Report Best Company to Work For in 2024, we're obsessive about the employee experience. We are among the top 20% being declared “Best” of our industry based on six critical factors that are important to employee wellbeing, like quality of pay, benefits, work life balance and more.

About Cars Commerce

Cars Commerce delivers innovative solutions that transform how automotive dealerships, manufacturers, and consumers buy and sell vehicles. From our industry-leading marketplace, Cars.com, to cutting-edge products like Dealer Inspire and AccuTrade, we provide a unified platform that simplifies the entire automotive commerce experience. Proudly recognized as a U.S. News & World Report Best Company to Work For in 2024, we're dedicated to delivering the best experience for our employees. 

About the Role [100% remote. May require onsite interviews]

Join us in shaping the future of Automotive Commerce. Our Enterprise Architecture Team is on a transformative journey, building innovative services that will redefine the way we deliver value. As a Principal Software Engineer you will lead the Software Architecture domain at Cars Commerce. An exceptional opportunity to influence the future of our platforms and drive meaningful change at scale to make an impact on the industry

Our Enterprise Architecture Team is the engine behind Cars Commerce’s technological evolution, bridging strategic vision and day-to-day execution. We lay the architectural foundation that drives innovation, accelerates delivery, and ensures operational excellence. By setting clear standards, offering expert hands-on guidance, and promoting open knowledge sharing, we empower engineering teams across the company to build scalable, high-quality solutions.

We spend roughly half of our time embedded alongside engineering teams working on mission-critical projects—providing hands-on technical contributions and partnering closely to guide architecture and design decisions. The other half of our time is dedicated to raising the bar on technical excellence: standardizing technology stacks, championing best practices, improving operational efficiency, and facilitating design reviews to foster collaboration, identify risks early, and document key decisions.

This is a unique opportunity for a highly skilled, hands-on Principal Software Engineer to influence the future of our platform and lead impactful change at scale. You’ll work collaboratively with diverse teams across Cars Commerce, shaping technology strategy while rolling up your sleeves to solve complex challenges. 

This opportunity enables you to…

• Shape the technology strategy by defining and evolving architectural standards, patterns, and platform direction that enable scale, performance, and long-term agility

• Drive technical excellence by championing best practices in software design, operational maturity, and engineering quality across the organization

• Act as a trusted partner and advisor to engineering and product teams—aligning technical solutions with business goals, guiding complex decisions, and balancing near-term delivery with long-term scalability

• Lead by example through hands-on contributions to high-impact, cross-functional projects, embedding with engineering teams to guide architecture, design, and implementation decisions

• Foster a culture of collaboration, ownership, and trust by building strong relationships across teams, encouraging open communication, and influencing through empathy and credibility

• Mentor and support engineers across all levels, helping them grow in technical depth, architectural thinking, and leadership skills

• Continuously evaluate emerging technologies and industry trends, identifying opportunities to modernize our tech stack and improve development velocity

• Facilitate and lead architectural reviews, technical deep-dives, and collaborative design sessions to identify risks early, explore alternatives, and document key decisions

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Computer Science or equivalent professional experience

• 12+ years of hands-on software development experience, with a strong focus on designing, building, and operating large-scale (20M+ monthly users) and highly available (99.99% uptime) web applications, APIs, and distributed systems

• 5+ years of experience architecting and building cloud-native solutions on AWS, leveraging services such as EKS, RDS, MSK, S3, and Lambda

• Demonstrated ability to lead and influence cross-functional teams and stakeholders in a remote, collaborative environment, driving alignment on architecture and strategic technical direction

• Strong commitment to establishing and promoting engineering standards, architectural best practices, and design documentation

• Strong system design skills with the ability to evaluate trade-offs, drive consensus, and document architectural decisions effectively

• Demonstrated ability to quickly learn new technologies and assess their practical application in real-world systems

• Comfortable navigating ambiguity—able to define and drive clarity around priorities, scope, and solutions that align with company goals

• Proven experience mentoring engineers and supporting their growth in technical depth, architecture, and leadership

• Deep expertise with containerization and orchestration technologies (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes), including deploying, monitoring, and scaling applications in production environments

• Strong experience designing and implementing RESTful APIs, GraphQL, and gRPC, with the ability to select the most appropriate interface for given technical and business requirements

• In-depth knowledge of relational (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL) and NoSQL (e.g., DynamoDB, MongoDB) data stores, caching strategies (e.g., Redis), and messaging systems (e.g., Kafka), with demonstrated experience implementing these at scale

• Proven experience building observability into systems using tools like DataDog or OpenTelemetry to ensure performance, reliability, and uptime

• Solid understanding of modern application security principles, including secure API design, data encryption, authentication/authorization (OAuth2, JWT), and role-based access control

• Familiarity with DevSecOps practices, including CI/CD pipeline implementation, automated testing, infrastructure as code, and security integration throughout the software development lifecycle

• Experience with server-side JavaScript (Node.js) and Elixir preferred

Our Comprehensive Benefits Package includes:

• Medical, Dental & Vision Healthcare Plans
• New Hire Stipend for Home Office Set-Up
• Generous PTO
• Refuel - a service based recognition program where employees receive additional paid time away to learn grow and reset
• Paid Holidays, Floating Holiday, Volunteer Day, Recharge Day

Learn more about our Benefits, Perks, & Culture on our LinkedIn Life Pages!
We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. California Applicants: Click here to review our California Privacy Policy for Applicants. For current employees, please click here to review our California Privacy Policy for Employees.