Principal Software Engineer

Rapid7 United States

United States PrincipalRemoteFull-time $190,600 – $257,800 a year

About the role

This is a principal-level software engineering role building the autonomous investigation platform behind a managed detection and response service, open to candidates working remotely in the United States. It suits a hands-on senior engineer who wants to anchor the architecture of a security-focused AI system rather than manage people. The team spans ML/AI engineering, data engineering and platform engineering, and sits inside the company's detection and response organization.

What you’ll do

  • Architect core platform components spanning data ingestion, query engines, orchestration and ML model integration.
  • Own technical direction for the team's hardest and most ambiguous problems, including interfaces and data contracts.
  • Partner with ML engineers on infrastructure for training, serving and evaluating disposition models.
  • Set engineering standards for design, data modeling, testing and observability.
  • Lead design reviews and mentor senior and staff engineers.
  • Resolve systemic performance, reliability and scalability issues across the pipeline.
  • Work with product management to shape requirements and balance speed against platform health.
  • Represent the team in broader architectural discussions.

What they’re looking for

  • 10+ years of software engineering experience leading complex, high-scale distributed systems.
  • Deep expertise in data systems: stream processing (Kafka, Flink), distributed query engines, data modeling and storage (DynamoDB, S3, data mesh).
  • Strong working knowledge of ML/AI system design, including model serving, feature pipelines, embeddings or LLM integration.
  • Experience designing systems where correctness, latency and throughput all matter.
  • Comfort owning ambiguous, cross-cutting problems end to end.
  • Experience in cloud-native environments, AWS preferred.
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Nice to have

  • Familiarity with security operations, detection engineering or threat intelligence pipelines.

What’s on offer

  • Salary range $190,600-$257,800 annually, depending on location.
  • Unlimited PTO for U.S. employees plus 12 holidays and 5 company days off.
  • ESPP at a 15% discount with lookback, and RSUs for many roles.
  • Comprehensive medical, dental and vision plans plus mental health resources and paid parental leave.
  • Remote or hybrid work.

Questions about this role

Is this role remote?

Yes, it's listed as remote or hybrid, hiring remotely across the United States.

How much does it pay?

The stated range is $190,600 to $257,800 annually, varying by location.

How many years of experience do I need?

The posting asks for 10+ years of software engineering experience.

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