Harness

Principal Software Engineer

USA, United States full-time Mid Salary not listed
full-time Mid level Technology & IT Curated
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About the role

Harness is the AI Software Delivery Platform company, led by technologist and entrepreneur Jyoti Bansal (founder of AppDynamics, acquired by Cisco for $3.7B). Harness has raised approximately $570M in funding and is valued at $5.5B, backed by leading investors including Goldman Sachs, Menlo Ventures, IVP, Unusual Ventures, Citi Ventures, and more. As AI accelerates code creation, the real bottleneck has shifted to everything after the code – testing, deployments, application security, reliability, compliance, and cost optimization. Harness brings AI and automation to this “outer loop,” helping teams ship software faster while maintaining security and governance throughout the entire software delivery lifecycle.

Powered by Harness AI and the Software Delivery Knowledge Graph, the Harness Platform applies deep context and intelligent automation across the software delivery lifecycle with governance and policy-driven controls embedded throughout the platform.

Over the past year, Harness powered over 185M deployments, 82M builds, 18T flag evaluations, 8M security scans, 9.1B optimized tests, 3T protected API calls, and helped manage $2.8B in cloud spend — enabling customers like United Airlines, Morningstar, and Choice Hotels to accelerate releases by up to 75%, reduce cloud costs by up to 60%, and achieve 10x DevOps efficiency.

With a global team across 26 offices and 27 countries, Harness is shaping the future of AI software delivery — and we’re looking for exceptional talent to help us move even faster.

Position Summary

Harness Software Engineering Insights (SEI) is where engineering meets engineering intelligence. As part of this team, you’ll work on a deeply technical product that connects to 40+ developer tools like Jira and GitHub, processes millions of events, and turns raw SDLC data into actionable metrics.

This is a product that engineers build for engineers, where you’ll see your work directly impact how thousands of developers build software. Expect challenges in data modeling, systems design, developer UX, and secure cloud integrations — all to help engineers and leaders build faster, better, and smarter.

About The Role

Design, develop, deploy and maintain critical software in a fast-paced quality conscious Java environment.

Author software functional specifications and design documents for features developed.

Quickly understand complex systems/code and own key pieces of the system, including the delivered quality

Work in an agile environment, using iterative development cycles and a short customer feedback loop

Design and implementation of scalable backend software solutions

Diagnose and troubleshoot complex problems in a distributed computing environment.

Perform peer reviews of specifications, design, and code

Quickly understand complex systems/code and own key pieces of the system, including the delivered quality

Work alongside Site Reliability Engineers/DevOps and cross functional teams to deploy software or diagnose/troubleshoot any production related issues

About You

12+ years of experience developing highly scalable, distributed applications, products, and backend services using Java

A desire to build products that solve complex technical problems for end users

Experience with relational databases like MySQL, PostgreSQL

Experience with SQL query tuning, performance optimizations is a plus

Experience with search frameworks like Elasticsearch, SOLR is a plus

Experience with applications hosted on AWS/Azure/GCP is a plus

Familiarity with Docker and CI/CD processes is a plus

Deep understanding of how distributed resilient software is built and deployed

Excellent problem solving and debugging skills

Experience working in short release cycles

Ready to Build Something Engineers Love. This is your chance to shape the systems that shape how software gets built. Join Harness today!

Work Location

Bay Area or Remote in the U.S. with periodic travel required

What You Will Have At Harness

Competitive salary

Comprehensive healthcare benefits

Flexible Spending Account (FSA)

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Flexible Time Off and Parental Leave

Quarterly Harness TGIF-Off / 4 days

Monthly, quarterly, and annual social and team-building events

Recharge & Reset Program

Monthly internet reimbursement

Commuter benefits

Factors that may be used to determine your actual pay rate include your specific skills, experience, qualifications, location, and comparison to other employees already in this role. In addition to the base salary, certain roles may qualify for a performance-based incentive and/or equity, with eligibility depending on the position. These rewards are based on a combination of company performance and individual achievements.The Hiring Range For This Position Is $150,000 - $226,000.

A valid authorization to work in the U.S. is required

Pay transparency

$204,000—$255,000 USD

Harness in the news:

Accelerating Our Mission to Bring AI to Everything After Code

Goldman Sachs leads investment in software delivery startup Harness at $5.5 billion valuation

How Harness runs 16 “startups within a startup” at scale | Jyoti Bansal

Harness Research Shows AI Visibility Crisis Fueling Security Nightmare

Harness has been named to the Inc. Power Partner list for software delivery success

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex or national origin.

At Harness, we care about your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal data. For additional information on this topic, you can visit our privacy Portal: https://harness-privacy.relyance.ai/

Note on Fraudulent Recruiting/Offers

We have become aware that there may be fraudulent recruiting attempts being made by people posing as representatives of Harness. These scams may involve fake job postings, unsolicited emails, or messages claiming to be from our recruiters or hiring managers.

Please note, we do not ask for sensitive or financial information via chat, text, or social media, and any email communications will come from the domain @harness.io. Additionally, Harness will never ask for any payment, fee to be paid, or purchases to be made by a job applicant. All applicants are encouraged to apply directly to our open jobs via our website. Interviews are generally conducted via Zoom video conference unless the candidate requests other accommodations.

If you believe that you have been the target of an interview/offer scam by someone posing as a representative of Harness, please do not provide any personal or financial information and contact us immediately at [email protected]. You can also find additional information about this type of scam and report any fraudulent employment offers via the Federal Trade Commission’s website (https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/job-scams), or you can contact your local law enforcement agency.

Interview prep

Walk in with sharper answers.

Use this as a quick practice sheet before you speak with the employer.

Mid
Technology & IT API integration MySQL Project Management Remote Collaboration SQL Mid level

Likely questions

  1. Tell us about work you have done that is close to the Principal Software Engineer role.
  2. How would you approach your first 30 days at Harness?
  3. Which of API integration, MySQL and Project Management have you used recently, and what did it help you achieve?
  4. Describe a time you solved a problem without waiting to be told exactly what to do.
  5. How do you handle busy days, changing priorities, or pressure at work?

Prepare before the call

  • A recent example that proves your experience with API integration, MySQL and Project Management.
  • One short story with a problem, your action, and the result.
  • Two examples that show the strengths listed on your CV.
  • A clear reason why this role and company interest you.
  • Your availability, preferred work style, and salary expectations.

Ask them

  • What would success look like in the first 90 days?
  • What are the main problems this hire should help solve?
  • How does the team give feedback and measure good work?
  • What does a normal working week look like for this role?
Practice line

I am interested in the Principal Software Engineer role because I can bring practical experience in API integration, MySQL and Project Management, learn the team quickly, and contribute to the outcomes Harness needs from this hire.

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