Principal Engineer, Backend Development Architecture

A Career at HARMAN Automotive

We’re a global, multi-disciplinary team that’s putting the innovative power of technology to work and transforming tomorrow. At HARMAN Automotive, we give you the keys to fast-track your career.

• Engineer audio systems and integrated technology platforms that augment the driving experience
• Combine ingenuity, in-depth research, and a spirit of collaboration with design and engineering excellence
• Advance in-vehicle infotainment, safety, efficiency, and enjoyment

About the Role

We are looking for a hands-on Development Lead to design and build the entire backend of a new application from zero to one. This role combines backend architecture, technical design, development team guidance, and direct customer communication, with ownership from requirements discovery through production delivery.

You will work directly with customers to understand their needs, translate those needs into an end-to-end backend design, and guide developers through implementation. Strong backend service architecture and delivery experience are essential. Basic awareness of AI application concepts is a plus; AI expertise and prior AI development experience are not required.

What You Will Do

     System Architecture and Technical Design

• Own the end-to-end backend architecture and technical design for a new application built from the ground up.
• Translate business and customer requirements into clear technical specifications, service boundaries, API contracts, and implementation plans.
• Clarify functional requirements and non-functional needs, including performance, availability, security, and expected scale, before defining the solution.
• Design backend services, data flows, integrations, and data models with scalability, reliability, security, and maintainability in mind.
• Evaluate architectural approaches, including microservices, and select solutions appropriate to the application's needs and delivery constraints.
• Select suitable technologies and define integration patterns for internal services and external systems.
• Document architecture decisions and explain technical trade-offs to developers, customers, and stakeholders.

    Development Leadership and Delivery

• Lead developers through the full development lifecycle, from project setup and initial implementation to testing, deployment, and production readiness.
• Break down requirements into actionable development tasks, identify dependencies, and provide technical estimates.
• Provide hands-on implementation for critical components and help resolve complex technical problems.
• Establish coding standards, code review practices, automated testing, and CI/CD foundations.
• Provide clear development guidelines, reference implementations, and service design conventions to keep implementation consistent across the team.
• Review designs and code to ensure consistency, quality, and alignment with the architecture.
• Mentor developers provide technical guidance and support their professional growth.
• Identify technical risks early and coordinate practical mitigation plans.
• Collaborate with product, QA, and operations teams to deliver working software.

    Customer Communication and Collaboration

• Communicate directly with customers to clarify requirements, constraints, priorities, and acceptance criteria.
• Lead requirements discovery discussions and confirm the agreed scope, assumptions, and technical requirements with customers.
• Lead technical discussions, architecture reviews, and solution walkthroughs.
• Explain complex technical topics clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Manage technical expectations by communicating feasibility, trade-offs, dependencies, and risks.
• Convert customer feedback into clear technical actions and keep the development team aligned.
• Assess requirement changes and explain their impact on backend design, implementation effort, and delivery.
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What You Need to Be Successful

• More than 14 years of professional software development experience, with a strong focus on backend services and demonstrated responsibility for architecture, technical leadership, and delivery.
• Proven experience designing and delivering backend services for a new application or platform from zero to one.
• Strong hands-on backend development skills in at least one mainstream programming language and ecosystem.
• Solid experience in backend service architecture, microservices concepts, API design, and distributed systems.
• Experience with relational and/or NoSQL databases, data modeling, and service integration.
• Understanding of production concerns such as authentication, authorization, error handling, retries, observability, and performance.
• Experience establishing development guidelines and guiding developers through technical design, implementation, code review, and troubleshooting.
• Familiarity with automated testing, version control, CI/CD, and cloud-based application delivery.
• Strong customer-facing communication skills, with the ability to independently gather and clarify requirements and translate them into a complete backend solution.
• Ability to balance architectural quality with practical delivery needs and work effectively with evolving requirements.

Bonus Points if You Have

• Basic awareness of AI application concepts, such as LLMs, prompts, and consuming AI services through APIs. Deep AI knowledge or model development experience is not expected.
• Experience with containerization, orchestration, and cloud-native deployment.
• Experience with multi-tenant platforms, role-based access control, and data privacy requirements.
• Experience collaborating with customers, vendor, and distributed engineering teams.

What We Offer

• Flexible work environment, allowing for full-time remote work one day per week for positions that can be performed outside a HARMAN or customer location.
• Access to employee discounts on world-class Harman (JBL, HARMAN Kardon, AKG, etc.)
• Extensive training opportunities through our own HARMAN University
• Competitive wellness benefits
• Access to HARMAN Campus Fitness Center and Cafeteria
• “Be Brilliant” employee recognition and rewards program
• An inclusive and diverse work environment that fosters and encourages professional and personal development