Principal Engineer/Chief Architect

Apply now: Principal Product Software Engineer, location is Hybrid (Tysons, VA). The start date is ASAP for this 6-month contract-to-hire position.

Job Title: Principal Product Software Engineer
Location-Type: Hybrid (2–3x/week onsite in Tysons, VA)
Start Date Is: ASAP
Duration: 6-month C2H
Compensation Range: $80-100/hr (after 6 months will convert to salary of $200-230k )

Job Description:
Serve as the hands-on technical leader responsible for architecting and building enterprise-scale, AI-enabled products from concept through production.

Day-to-Day Responsibilities:

• Design and build scalable systems from scratch across cloud and on-prem environments
• Define architecture and technical direction across multiple product initiatives
• Develop PoCs and convert them into production-ready solutions
• Lead complex integrations across third-party systems and internal platforms
• Build and deploy full-stack applications with strong backend focus
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex production issues
• Partner with product and leadership to influence roadmap and technical decisions
• Mentor engineers and elevate engineering best practices
• Serve as the primary technical decision-maker across projects
• Communicate technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders

Requirements:

• Must-Haves:
  • 12–15 years of software engineering experience
  • 4 years in a Principal or Architect-level role
  • Strong backend development experience (.NET/C# preferred; Java acceptable)
  • Proven experience building systems from scratch and owning architecture end-to-end
  • Experience designing and scaling full-stack applications
  • Deep expertise in third-party integrations and APIs
  • Strong cloud experience (AWS, Azure, or GCP)
  • Experience with databases and distributed systems
  • Familiarity with containerization and modern architectures
  • Proven ability to build PoCs rapidly and productionize them
  • Experience with AI-enabled or web-based systems
  • Bachelor's degree required
  • Strong communication skills with both technical and non-technical stakeholders
  • Ability to operate with high autonomy and ownership
• Nice-to-Haves:
  • Experience with AI/ML, including LLMs or Vision AI
  • Exposure to hardware/software integrations (IoT, device communication)
  • Experience in hybrid-cloud or air-gapped environments
  • Familiarity with messaging systems (Kafka, RabbitMQ)
  • Experience with advanced AI models (e.g., VLMs)
  • Background in security systems, IoT, or hardware integrations

Benefits:

This role is eligible to enroll in both Mondo's health insurance plan and retirement plan. Mondo defers to the applicable State or local law for paid sick leave eligibility