Principal Software Engineer

Job Description

Responsibilities

• Serve as the technical lead and architect for the data serving platform, setting engineering direction and driving execution.
• Design and implement platform-level systems that deliver seamless, high-performance data access through interfaces like GraphQL and a semantic data model.
• Lead the development of a data fusion layer that integrates across multiple databases and cloud environments.
• Build scalable, highly available, and cost-efficient services that support massive cloud customer accounts.
• Collaborate with Product and Engineering stakeholders to define functional specifications, architecture, and technical roadmap.
• Write, review, and maintain high-quality, production-grade code.
• Partner closely with Product Management, Support, Sales, and Customer teams to align technical investments with customer outcomes.
• Drive build-vs-buy analysis, make strategic architectural decisions, and champion operational excellence.
• Mentor engineers across the team, support career growth, and foster a culture of technical rigor and inclusion.
• Actively participate in recruiting, interviewing, and onboarding new engineers.
• Communicate complex technical decisions to executive leadership and represent the team in company-wide forums.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field.
• 12+ years of experience designing and delivering large-scale, distributed systems.
• Proven experience leading teams and delivering mission-critical services in production.
• Hands-on expertise with GraphQL, Apache Data Fusion, or Rust (at least one).
• Deep understanding of distributed systems, data pipelines, and multi-cloud architectures.

Preferred Qualifications

• Strong programming experience with Rust, Go, or similar systems languages.
• Experience building or operating components like message queues, query processors, task schedulers, or control planes.
• Delivered scalable microservices in public cloud environments (AWS, Google Cloud Platform, Azure).
• Experience working in CI/CD environments with a focus on observability and reliability.
• Comfortable making tradeoffs across performance, cost, and usability in large-scale systems.

Why Join Us

• Own and operate systems that serve as the backbone of our cloud security products
• Lead one of the most visible and impactful initiatives across the company
• Collaborate with top-tier engineers across platform and product teams
• Shape architecture that supports future growth and innovation
• Thrive in a culture of trust, autonomy, and technical excellence

The US base salary range for this full-time position is $230,000-$300,000. Fortinet offers employees a variety of benefits, including medical, dental, vision, life and disability insurance, 401(k), 11 paid holidays, vacation time, and sick time as well as a comprehensive leave program.

Wage ranges are based on various factors including the labor market, job type, and job level. Exact salary offers will be determined by factors such as the candidate's subject knowledge, skill level, qualifications, experience, and geographic location.

All roles are eligible to participate in the Fortinet equity program, Bonus eligibility is reviewed at time of hire and annually at the Company's discretion.

Why Join Us:
We encourage candidates from all backgrounds and identities to apply. We offer a supportive work environment and a competitive Total Rewards package to support you with your overall health and financial well-being.

Embark on a challenging, enjoyable, and rewarding career journey with Fortinet. Join us in bringing solutions that make a meaningful and lasting impact to our 660,000+ customers around the globe.

About Us

Fortinet (NASDAQ: FTNT) secures the largest enterprise, service provider, and government organizations around the world. Fortinet empowers its customers with intelligent, seamless protection across the expanding attack surface and the power to take on ever-increasing performance requirements of the borderless network - today and into the future. Only the Fortinet Security Fabric architecture can deliver security without compromise to address the most critical security challenges, whether in networked, application, cloud or mobile environments. Fortinet ranks number one in the most security appliances shipped worldwide and more than 500,000 customers trust Fortinet to protect their businesses.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for all qualified individuals with disabilities. If you require assistance or accommodation due to a disability, please contact us at

Fortinet is an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity in our company, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, military/veteran status or any other applicable legally protected characteristics in the location in which the candidate is applying.