Apply on Kit Job: kitjob.ca/job/2fsrnk

We are looking for a hands-on Principal Developer to provide technical leadership across a high-scale, real-time transactional platform operating in the automotive space.

About the Company:

This is a Canadian-based technology company building a high-scale digital marketplace that powers real-time transactions across North America. The platform handles complex, time-sensitive workflows where performance, reliability, and accuracy are critical to the business.

The engineering team is small, experienced, and highly collaborative, with direct access to senior leadership and the opportunity to influence both product and technical direction. There’s a strong emphasis on ownership, where engineers are trusted to make decisions, solve meaningful problems, and see their work through in production.

The business is well-established and profitable, with a steady stream of real-world complexity to solve. It’s not a “move fast and break things” environment, it’s a “move thoughtfully and make it work at scale” kind of place.

If you enjoy working on systems that actually have to perform under pressure, and you like understanding the business behind what you’re building, you’ll probably feel at home here.

About the Role

The Principal Software Engineer is a hands-on technical leader responsible for building, optimizing, and maintaining the core backend systems that power a real-time digital marketplace platform.

This role is highly execution-focused and sits at the intersection of backend engineering, system performance, and business-critical operations. The successful candidate will spend the majority of their time writing code, debugging production issues, and improving system performance, while also contributing to technical decision-making and mentoring other engineers.

This is not an architecture-only or management role. It is a deeply hands-on position focused on solving complex technical problems in a high-scale, real-time environment. This individual will play a key role in maintaining system reliability, supporting production operations,



and ensuring the platform can scale effectively as the business grows.

Responsibilities

- Own and drive architectural decisions across a complex backend platform, ensuring scalability, performance, and resiliency
- Translate ambiguous business requirements into clear, actionable technical solutions
- Lead end-to-end technical initiatives from problem definition through design, implementation, and delivery
- Contribute hands-on to the codebase, primarily within a Java/Spring ecosystem
- Proactively identify risks and opportunities within the codebase and address issues before they become problems
- Partner closely with product managers, engineering leaders, and stakeholders to align on technical direction
- Improve application performance, observability, and system reliability
- Influence and mentor engineers across multiple teams, raising the overall technical bar
- Balance delivery of new features with technical debt management and long-term platform health
- Support production systems when needed and contribute to incident resolution and root cause analysis

Qualifications

- 10+ years of professional software development experience
- Strong background in backend development, with deep experience in Java and Spring Boot
- Proven experience designing and scaling large, complex distributed systems
- Experience owning and delivering technical initiatives from conception through production
- Strong understanding of system design, performance optimization, and concurrency
- Experience working closely with product and business stakeholders to translate requirements into solutions
- Demonstrated ability to operate autonomously in ambiguous environments
- Strong communication skills,



with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to non-technical audiences
- Track record of influencing technical direction across multiple teams

Technical Environment

- Backend: Java, Spring Boot
- API Layer: GraphQL
- Frontend: React (web), Flutter (internal tools), mobile applications (iOS/Android)
- Data: MySQL, Elasticsearch
- Cloud & Infrastructure: AWS, Infrastructure as Code (e.g., Terraform/CDK)
- Tooling: CI/CD pipelines, Git, Maven

Preferred Skills

- Experience with AWS infrastructure and Infrastructure as Code
- Exposure to full-stack development (React or similar frameworks)
- Experience working on real-time, high-concurrency systems
- Interest or experience in applying AI tools to improve engineering productivity and workflows
- Experience in marketplace or transactional platforms

Core Competencies

- Strong ownership mindset with a bias toward action
- Ability to operate independently and take initiative without direction
- Excellent problem-solving skills and systems thinking
- Strong communication and stakeholder management
- Ability to move from ambiguity to structured, scalable solutions
- Passion for mentoring and elevating engineering teams

Why Join

This is an opportunity to take ownership of a critical platform and influence its technical direction at scale. You will work closely with experienced engineering leadership, solve meaningful problems, and have a direct impact on a system that powers real-world transactions. You’ll be part of a cooperative, high-performing team where engineers are encouraged to take ownership, work closely with the business, and continuously improve how systems are built and scaled.

Pay range and compensation package

- Base Salary: CAD $200,000 – $220,000
- Performance Bonus: ~15%

Additional Compensation:

- RRSP matching program
- Extended health, dental, and vision benefits
- Paid time off (3–4 weeks, negotiable)
- Flexible working environment
- Total compensation is flexible and may be adjusted based on experience and impact potential.

Apply on Kit Job: kitjob.ca/job/2fsrnk

📌 Principal Software Engineer (Toronto)
🏢 Sage Recruiting
📍 Toronto