Chief Principal Software Engineer

Company Overview

With 80,000 customers across 150 countries, UKG is the largest U.S.-based private software company in the world. And we’re only getting started. Ready to bring your bold ideas and collaborative mindset to an organization that still has so much more to build and achieve? Read on.

At UKG, you get more than just a job. You get to work with purpose. Our team of U Krewers are on a mission to inspire every organization to become a great place to work through our award-winning HR technology built for all.

Here, we know that you’re more than your work. That’s why our benefits help you thrive personally and professionally, from wellness programs and tuition reimbursement to U Choose — a customizable expense reimbursement program that can be used for more than 200+ needs that best suit you and your family, from student loan repayment, to childcare, to pet insurance. Our inclusive culture, active and engaged employee resource groups, and caring leaders value every voice and support you in doing the best work of your career. If you’re passionate about our purpose — people —then we can’t wait to support whatever gives you purpose. We’re united by purpose, inspired by you.

We are seeking a highly experienced Chief Principal Software Engineer to join our dynamic team. This role will provide you with the opportunity to work on cutting-edge SaaS technologies and impactful projects that are used by enterprises and users worldwide. You will drive technical strategy, lead large-scale projects, and mentor engineers across the organization. As a Chief Principal Software Engineer, you will be responsible for the design, development, testing, deployment, and maintenance of highly complex software systems.

Responsibilities

• Software Development: Write clean, maintainable, and efficient code for various software applications and systems.
• Technical Strategy: Drive the technical strategy and vision for major projects and initiatives, ensuring alignment with business goals and industry best practices. Communicate complex concepts, anticipate potential objections, and influence others to adopt a point of view.
• Leadership: Lead cross-functional teams to design, develop, and deliver high-impact software projects on time and within budget. Coordinate activities and tasks of other team members, working independently and needing guidance only in the most complex situations.
• Architectural Excellence: Architect, design, and develop complex software systems and applications, ensuring high standards of performance, scalability, and reliability. Collaborate with architects on mid-level and high-level design.
• Complexity: Solve complex issues with innovative solutions, setting precedents as needed. Navigate information, alternatives, and relationships to achieve results. Communicate complex concepts, anticipate objections, and influence adoption of viewpoints.
• Impact: Impact the achievement of area/group objectives. Develop team policies, procedures, and techniques. Drive prioritization of technical debt, articulating the expected impact and outcomes.
• Service Health and Quality: Ensure the health and quality of services and incidents, proactively identifying and addressing issues. Utilize service health indicators and telemetry for action. Conduct thorough root cause analysis and implement measures to prevent future recurrences.
• Engineering Excellence Practices: Advocate for and implement best quality practices, hold a high bar for engineering excellence, and guide the team in maintaining service quality through the testing pyramid.
• DevOps Model: Oversee CI/CD pipelines, ensuring efficient build, test, and deployment phases. Take ownership from working with product management on requirements to designing, developing, testing, deploying, and maintaining software in production.
• Testing: Build testable software, define tests, participate in the testing process, automate tests using tools (e.g., JUnit, Selenium) and design patterns leveraging the test automation pyramid as the guide.
• Code Review: Conduct comprehensive code reviews, providing constructive feedback and ensuring adherence to best practices.
• Mentorship: Provide technical mentorship and guidance, fostering a culture of learning and continuous improvement. Mentor junior engineers on taking ownership of the full lifecycle of services and features.
• Documentation: Develop and maintain comprehensive technical documentation for software applications and systems.
• Innovation: Stay current with emerging technologies and industry trends, advocating for their adoption where appropriate to drive innovation and productivity enhancement within the team (e.g., CoPilot).
• Enterprise Architecture: Define and maintain enterprise architecture frameworks and standards, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and objectives.
• Strategic Planning: Participate in long-term strategic planning, providing insights and recommendations for technology roadmaps and investment priorities.
• Stakeholder Collaboration: Work closely with senior leadership, product management, and other stakeholders to understand business requirements and translate them into technical solutions.
• Governance: Establish and enforce architectural governance processes, ensuring compliance with architectural standards and best practices.
• Risk Management: Identify and mitigate technical risks associated with projects, ensuring robustness and resilience of architectural solutions.
• Innovation Leadership: Champion innovation initiatives, driving the adoption of new technologies and methodologies to enhance productivity and competitive advantage.
  
  

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field.
• 16+ years of professional software development experience.
• Deep expertise in Java, Angular, and related technologies.
• Extensive experience with software architecture and design patterns, including the ability to design and implement scalable, reliable systems in a DevOps model.
• Proven track record of leading and delivering large-scale, complex software projects.
• Proficiency with cloud technologies like Azure, AWS, GCP, and version control systems like GitHub.
• Strong problem-solving skills and attention to detail, with a commitment to delivering high-quality software solutions.
• Proficiency in building telemetry or observability as part of the development process.
• Strong leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence and drive technical decisions across the organization.
  
  

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree or PhD in Computer Science or a related technical field.
• Familiarity with developing accessible technologies.
• Dedicated to diversity and inclusion initiatives.
• Demonstrated expertise in specialized disciplines and related fields. Recognized as an expert in their technical area.
• Understanding of internal and external business challenges and regulatory factors. Apply best practices to improve products, processes, or services.
  
  

Where we’re going

UKG is on the cusp of something truly special. Worldwide, we already hold the #1 market share position for workforce management and the #2 position for human capital management. Tens of millions of frontline workers start and end their days with our software, with billions of shifts managed annually through UKG solutions today. Yet it’s our AI-powered product portfolio designed to support customers of all sizes, industries, and geographies that will propel us into an even brighter tomorrow!

UKG is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and is committed to promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace, including the recruitment process.

Disability Accommodation in the Application and Interview Process

For individuals with disabilities that need additional assistance at any point in the application and interview process, please email UKGCareers@ukg.com