Principal Software Engineer (Future Opportunity) at patchmypc

About Our Company: At Patch My PC, we exist to improve lives. What started as a free tool to keep apps updated has grown into a trusted enterprise solution that helps IT and Security teams automate, manage, deploy, and report on third-party updates in Microsoft ConfigMgr, Intune, and WSUS. Our fully remote crew of 150 GIF-loving humans supports over 9,000 customers and more than 29 million devices. We make patching easier, boost security, and give IT teams their time back. Our core values guide how we work, how we treat each other, and how we grow. They keep us focused on what matters most. We're here to improve the lives of our customers, our team members, and our communities. About the Role:   At Patch My PC, we’re always thinking ahead to the future of our engineering team. While we may not have an immediate opening, we want to share the kind of role and impact we envision for our future software engineering leaders. We are seeking a Principal Software Engineer to architect and deliver scalable backend systems and customer-facing services that support our continued growth. This role demands both depth and breadth: you will spend significant time hands-on, writing code, designing systems, and solving hard technical problems across our product line, from on-premises desktop applications to cloud-hosted microservices running on AKS. But you will just as readily step into the architect role, shaping system-level decisions, defining patterns, and thinking about where the platform needs to go next. Your architectural decisions will have a direct and visible impact on the product and our customers.  The balance will shift depending on the work, but expect a mix of hands-on engineering, architectural leadership, cross-team collaboration, partnership with other engineers, and working with senior leaders to mature our engineering organization. This is not a management role and not a role where you direct from the sideline. You will be in the code with the team while also helping to elevate how we think about system design, reliability, and long-term platform evolution.  This is a high-impact role at a company in a period of rapid growth. Our customers range from small and medium-sized businesses to global enterprises and government organizations with strict compliance and regulatory requirements, and we are continually raising the bar on our engineering systems to keep pace with the scale and rigor our customers expect. You will work alongside experienced senior leaders who have deep backgrounds in complex distributed systems, and they are excited to find someone who brings their own learnings and experience to the table. We are not looking for someone to run a playbook from a previous organization, but someone with the judgment to understand where we are today and who is genuinely excited to figure out what comes next together.  Responsibilities Architectural Leadership • Drive architectural direction across the product line, design and implement highly scalable microservices, well-crafted RESTful APIs, and event-driven systems spanning on-premises .NET desktop applications and Kubernetes hosted cloud services • Improve performance, reliability, and observability across product offerings, and proactively identify architectural risks before they become incidents • Establish system design patterns, service standards, and architectural guidelines that teams can adopt consistently Cross-Team Collaboration & Delivery • Inspire and lead teams through change by clearly communicating technical vision, trade-offs, and direction in design reviews, architecture discussions, and technical presentations • Work across multiple engineering teams to shape technical direction through collaboration and earned trust, leading cross-functional initiatives that reduce technical debt and improve long-term maintainability • Partner with product and engineering leadership to align technical architecture with product and feature roadmaps • Guide features end-to-end from concept through requirements, development, security review, compliance, support readiness, and release, working with engineers to refine and deliver them Engineering Culture & Partnership • Jump in alongside engineers on complex problems, code reviews, and design discussions — take ownership in their success and growth as if it were your own • Help teams build confidence in iterative delivery, straightforward patterns get us most of the way there, and software that is simple and well-understood is software we can change without fear • Help shape how our teams adopt AI coding assistants and emerging technologies by designing the workflows, standards, and feedback loops that turn these tools into genuine productivity multipliers rather than sources of technical debt • Collaborate with senior leaders and teams to evolve engineering processes, tooling, and standards in ways that fit our culture and growth stage Security & Compliance • Own security posture across the platform: drive secure design practices, threat modeling, and defense-in-depth strategies, and contribute to compliance initiatives and audit readiness as we serve customers across regulated industries and government Required Skills • 10+ years of experience designing, building, and supporting complex distributed systems and event-driven architectures • You are a force multiplier who genuinely loves helping others succeed. Approachable, curious, and someone who measures their own success partly by the success of the people around them. We have no room for elitism • Ambitious and driven, with the communication skills to make complex technical ideas accessible and compelling. You bring energy and clarity, not just expertise • Thrives in a fast-paced environment with a high volume of real-time collaboration. You can stay engaged across many threads, prioritize ruthlessly, and still deliver thoughtful work • 8+ years of professional experience building and shipping commercial software with C# and the .NET ecosystem, including ASP.NET Core microservices, dependency injection, object-oriented design patterns, and familiarity with enterprise desktop application development (WPF or similar frameworks) • Significant experience in the client and endpoint management space, including platforms such as Microsoft Configuration Manager (SCCM/MECM), Microsoft Intune, or RMM tools • Track record of building highly scalable systems that serve large and growing customer bases without sacrificing reliability or developer velocity • Deep experience in REST API design including versioning strategies, contract-first design, and building APIs that other teams and external consumers can adopt confidently • Hands-on experience with MongoDB or similar NoSQL databases including data modeling and performance optimization, along with solid SQL fundamentals • Experience with Docker, Kubernetes, Helm charts, Git, and CI/CD pipelines as part of a modern containerized development and deployment workflow • Strong security expertise including authentication and authorization patterns, encryption, threat modeling, and secure-by-default design practices • Values simplicity and iteration over upfront perfection, a few clean patterns get you eighty percent of the flexibility, and willingness to rework code as we learn gets you the rest. Some problems need complex approaches, but most of the time simple is good enough • Brings deep experience and hard-won learnings but holds them lightly, growth mindset over fixed playbook. We value boldness and big thinking, grounded by experience that helps us avoid costly mistakes • Enthusiastic about AI as a productivity tool for engineering teams, but realistic that getting there requires designing supportive systems, workflows, and guardrails that help engineers use these tools effectively while avoiding over-reliance Nice to Have • Experience integrating with Microsoft Graph APIs or other enterprise endpoint management APIs, and familiarity with enterprise environments including patch management, software deployment, and device compliance • Experience building SaaS platforms serving large enterprise or government customers • Experience with Azure cloud services (especially AKS), AWS, or Google Cloud • Experience with large-scale data processing pipelines or cross-platform application development • Familiarity with additional languages and frameworks such as React, Go, JavaScript/TypeScript, C++, or PowerShell What You Should Know About Us • We are a fully remote company with a collaborative, low-ego culture, short distance between ideas and execution, and a pace that rewards strong prioritization • We are growing rapidly. We want someone who wants to be part of that evolution, not someone who wants to impose a predetermined destination • We value pragmatism over dogma: we lean toward iteration, but respect the tension between moving fast and building things right • Our senior leaders have deep experience in complex distributed systems and are excited to collaborate with someone who brings their own perspective and learnings • This is a high-impact role. We know what we are looking for is ambitious, and we are willing to be patient to find the right person. In return, you will join a team where everyone is still learning and growing, including you. We want someone who will help us raise the bar and grow alongside us, not someone who has it all figured out already Compensation & Benefits: Competitive Base Salary: $190,000 - $220,000 based on experience and location. Benefits: • 401k Match: Match 200% of contributions up to the first 5% of salary, resulting in a total potential match of 10%. • Medical, Dental, and Vision Coverage: Patch My PC covers 99% of premiums for both team members and dependents. Other Benefits: • FSA/HSA. • Fertility benefits. • Parental leave. • Paid-time off (PTO). • Volunteer leave. • Charitable donation matching. • Tuition reimbursement. • Gym membership reimbursement. • Internet stipend. • Pet insurance. Learn more about our benefits here: [Upgrade to PRO to see link] Equal Opportunity Employer: Patch My PC is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to a policy of equal treatment and opportunity in every aspect of its recruitment and hiring process. We encourage women, racial and ethnic minorities, individuals with disabilities, and veterans to apply. Work Authorization: To be eligible for consideration, candidates for fully remote positions must reside in one of the following U.S. states at the time of hire: AL, AK, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI, WV, WY.