Principal Software Engineer, Backend

Principal Software Engineer, Backend

DraftKings

Dublin, Ireland

The Crown Is Yours

As a Principal Software Engineer, you'll shape the foundation of our most critical systems and guide the evolution of our technical ecosystem. In this role, you'll lead high-impact, cross-functional initiatives that elevate system performance, scalability, and engineering velocity across teams. You'll drive architectural direction, solve complex technical challenges, and mentor senior engineers while playing a key role in scaling both our technology and our engineering culture.

What You'll Do

• Lead the design and development of scalable, maintainable, and high-performing software systems that span multiple teams and services;
• Translate complex business needs into technical architecture and product specifications, focusing on modularity, integration, and long-term maintainability;
• Partner closely with Engineers, Product Managers, and Designers to align technical solutions with strategic goals and user needs;
• Guide engineering execution across multiple domains, ensuring consistency with architectural standards, code quality, and system reliability;
• Champion engineering best practices, including code review rigor, test automation, observability, and secure development workflows;
• Drive the adoption of modern development tooling and DevOps practices, including CI/CD, containerization, infrastructure as code, and cloud-native architectures;
• Mentor engineers through design discussions, code reviews, and cross-functional collaboration by fostering a strong culture of technical excellence and shared ownership;
• Communicate technical strategy and value clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders, tying engineering decisions to broader business impact.

What You'll Bring

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or any suitable combination of education, experience, and training;
• At least 8 years of professional software engineering experience, with deep expertise in system architecture, scalable design patterns, and building distributed systems in production environments;
• Demonstrated success in technical leadership roles such as a Tech Lead or Architect, with the ability to guide design decisions, influence engineering direction, and lead by example;
• Hands-on experience designing and deploying large-scale applications in cloud environments such as AWS or Google Cloud Platform (GCP), with a strong understanding of cloud-native infrastructure;
• Proficiency in developing comprehensive automated testing strategies, including unit, integration, and performance testing, to ensure long-term system health and reliability;
• A strong track record of driving cross-team collaboration, resolving complex technical challenges, and translating broad business problems into elegant engineering solutions;
• Clear, structured communication skills with the ability to influence both technical and non-technical stakeholders and document architectural decisions effectively;
• A passion for mentoring and supporting the growth of fellow engineers through thoughtful code reviews, design feedback, and technical guidance.