Principal Software Engineer – AI, Platform

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in United States.

📋 Description

• Designing scalable systems that align with business growth.

• Enhancing engineering standards and achieving operational excellence.

• Boosting development speed through the strategic application of AI.

• Creating best practices for AI-assisted and autonomous software development.

• Guiding engineers and assisting the team in making informed technical choices.

• Utilizing technology to streamline intricate operational processes and enhance customer experiences.

• Defining and refining architectural standards for both customer-facing and operational systems.

• Leading the design of sophisticated software systems, integrations, workflows, and data models.

• Steering long-term technical strategies while accommodating short-term business needs.

• Recognizing technical risks and opportunities early, and formulating practical plans to address them.

• Overseeing architectural reviews and influencing significant technical decisions across teams.

• Establishing frameworks that enhance reliability, maintainability, scalability, and developer productivity.

• Promoting AI-assisted software development throughout the organization.

• Setting best practices for utilizing LLMs in coding, testing, debugging, documentation, code reviews, and operational workflows.

• Designing and creating autonomous systems that automate engineering and business processes.

• Assessing emerging AI technologies to identify areas for measurable impact.

• Assisting in refining Koala's methodology for AI-enabled software development and organizational productivity.

• Ensuring the responsible, secure implementation of AI systems with suitable operational safeguards.

• Elevating standards for code quality, testing, documentation, and operational preparedness.

• Advancing improvements in CI/CD, deployment safety, developer experience, and engineering workflows.

• Setting benchmarks for observability, monitoring, alerting, and incident response.

• Introducing tools and automation that enhance engineering speed without compromising quality.

• Cultivating a culture of ownership, continuous improvement, and technical excellence.

• Collaborating closely with Product, Operations, Pharmacy, Customer Care, Growth, and Finance teams to address business challenges and devise effective solutions.

• Converting ambiguous business needs into scalable technical solutions.

• Leading projects from conception through implementation, rollout, and operational support.

• Ensuring technical choices are in line with company objectives and customer outcomes.

• Assisting in mentoring engineers of all experience levels.

• Offering insightful guidance during design reviews, architecture discussions, and code evaluations.

• Aiding in the development of engineering processes that adapt as the organization expands.

• Acting as a trusted technical advisor to cross-functional stakeholders.

• Shaping the engineering culture through technical leadership rather than positional authority.

⛳️ Requirements

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent.

• Over 10 years of professional software engineering experience in building and operating complex, production-scale systems.

• Expert-level knowledge of Ruby on Rails with a strong understanding of modern web application architecture, distributed systems, APIs, data modeling, and cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure).

• Proven track record in leading technical architecture, steering engineering direction, mentoring engineers, and delivering reliable, observable, high-performance systems.

• Strong product and business acumen with exceptional written and verbal communication skills.

• Extensive expertise in modern AI development, including LLMs, AI-assisted coding tools (e.g., Claude, Codex, GitHub Copilot), and the creation of AI-powered products, agents, automation, or developer workflows.

• Knowledge of agent architectures, retrieval systems, tool-calling, evaluation frameworks, and AI system reliability, demonstrating the ability to leverage AI for enhancing engineering speed and team effectiveness.

• Authorization to work in the United States (Koala is unable to sponsor visas for this position).

🏝️ Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance with partial dependent coverage.

• Generous PTO and a 401(k) plan.

• Competitive base salary with performance-based incentives.

• Meaningful mission focused on modernizing pet health.

• Remote-first culture founded on flexibility and trust.