AdTechTalent
Engineering10 days agoOn-site

FreeWheel

Principal Software Engineer - Distributed Systems - FreeWheel

AWSPythonGo-LangScaladistributed systemsreliability engineeringautomationmonitoringincident responseCI/CDDockerKubernetesJenkinsSQLLinuxinfrastructure-as-codeproduction systemsperformance tuningcloud architectureengineering

Key details

Salary

$153K – $229K

Employment type

Full-time

Seniority

Senior

Years experience

10+

Location

Chicago, United States

Full job description

The Principal Software Engineer - Ad Tech & Distributed Systems leads reliability, performance, and operational excellence of FreeWheel platforms. Responsibilities include owning production reliability, designing and operating monitoring and alerting systems, leading incident response and root cause analysis, supporting stable operations during live events, driving automation, influencing architecture decisions, managing change and capacity planning, championing security practices, enforcing engineering operations standards, and participating in on-call rotations. Requires 10+ years software engineering experience, 5+ years with AWS, expertise in distributed systems, coding, debugging, mentoring, and strong knowledge of Python, Go-Lang, Scala, Linux, AWS services, infrastructure-as-code, CI/CD tools, and SQL. Strong analytical, communication, and teamwork skills required. Location: Chicago, Illinois.

What you'll do

  • Own production reliability, availability, latency, and performance of large-scale, mission-critical systems
  • Design, implement, and operate monitoring, alerting, and observability solutions
  • Lead incident response, root cause analysis, and post-incident reviews
  • Support stable operations during high-visibility, time-sensitive live events and releases
  • Drive automation initiatives to reduce operational toil and improve efficiency
  • Partner with software engineering teams to influence architecture and design decisions
  • Lead and execute change management, capacity planning, and production readiness reviews
  • Champion security, vulnerability management, and secure configuration practices
  • Enforce and improve Engineering Operations processes, standards, and best practices
  • Participate in on-call rotations including weekend coverage and escalation support

Requirements

  • 10+ years of professional experience in software development/engineering
  • 5+ years experience with AWS
  • Expert-level coding, debugging, and troubleshooting skills across complex, distributed production systems
  • Proven ability to lead and mentor engineers in automation, reliability engineering, and production problem-solving
  • Strong experience designing and operating server-side applications or services using Python, Go-Lang, or Scala
  • Experience developing, operating, and troubleshooting distributed systems and backend services
  • Familiarity with data processing platforms, data pipelines, and large-scale system architectures
  • Deep knowledge of Linux systems, system internals, networking, and production infrastructure
  • Extensive experience with AWS cloud architecture and services including VPC, subnets, NACLs, security groups, EC2, S3, IAM, Route 53, Lambda, and related services
  • Proficiency with infrastructure-as-code and configuration management tools and practices
  • Mastery of CI/CD and SDLC tools (Docker, Kubernetes, Jenkins, Git, Ansible, Chef, and Puppet)
  • Strong understanding of database technologies, SQL, performance tuning, and operational data management
  • Advanced analytical and data-driven problem-solving skills
  • Strong communication skills, attention to detail, adaptability, and ability to work effectively within a global, cross-functional team

Tech stack

AWSPythonGo-LangScalaLinuxVPCsubnetsNACLssecurity groupsEC2S3IAMRoute 53Lambdainfrastructure-as-codeDockerKubernetesJenkinsGitAnsibleChefPuppetSQLC++

Benefits

Base pay within range $152,828.79 - $229,243.19 dependent on experienceCommission for sales positionsBonus for most non-sales positionsBest-in-class benefits to support physical, financial, and emotional well-beingArray of options, expert guidance, and always-on tools personalized to employee needs

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