About the role

Principal Software Engineer

Location: Fully Remote, Within Canada (Eastern Time Zone ± 1 hour)

Role Type: Full-time, Permanent

Reports to: Senior Vice President, Engineering

About The Role
Our client is a scaling start-up developing AI-enabled physical security solutions and is seeking a highly capable, hands-on generalist Staff or Principal Software Engineer to join their core technical team. In this role, you will be instrumental in developing and scaling AI-powered video surveillance detection pipeline, leveraging state-of-the-art computer vision models to achieve sub-one-second detection latency at scale.
This is an individual contributor role focused on execution, architecture, and problem-solving rather than management. You will thrive if you enjoy working full-stack across complex systems, navigating ambiguity, pivoting quickly, and building high-impact products with low organizational overhead.
Key Responsibilities

Architect, build, and optimize backend services and processing pipelines using Python, Linux, and PostgreSQL.

Integrate, test, and evaluate open-source AI/Vision-Language Models for real-time video surveillance and detection workflows.

Solve performance bottlenecks to achieve sub-one-second latency at scale while maintaining low false-positive rates.

Maintain hands-on involvement across the entire stack, leveraging AI-assisted workflows such as Claude Code to accelerate development.

Participate in peer reviews, architecture discussions, and calibration of detection models.

Qualifications & Skills

Seniority: Staff or Principal Software Engineer background with a strong track record of hands-on delivery.

Core Tech Stack: Deep proficiency in Python, PostgreSQL, and Linux environments.

AI/ML Experience: Hands-on experience or strong working knowledge in AI model evaluation, testing, and integration (experience with open-source vision/language models is a strong plus).

Full-Stack/Generalist Mindset: Broad technical range with comfort moving across back-end architecture, data pipelines, and infrastructure integration.

Adaptability: Thrives in fast-paced environments with rapid iteration, evolving scope, and minimal structure.

Geographic Location: Remote within Canada. Ideally located within the Eastern Time Zone ± 1 hour

Key Mindset & Culture Fit

Problem Solving: Superior technical problem-solving and architectural judgement.

Collaboration: Humble, collaborative disposition with a keen appetite to work creatively both independently and in cooperation with an experienced leadership team. We value curiosity, innovation, high technical execution paired with respect and mutual trust.

Must be legally eligible to work in Canada.

We sincerely thank all applicants for their interest, however only those candidates selected for interview may be contacted.
Originally posted on Himalayas

Interview prep

Walk in with sharper answers.

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

Senior

Technology & IT API integration MySQL Python Remote Collaboration Sales Senior level

Likely questions

Tell us about work you have done that is close to the Principal Software Engineer role.
How would you approach your first 30 days at Lanark Weaver Consulting?
Which of API integration, MySQL and Python have you used recently, and what did it help you achieve?
How have you led people, improved a process, or made a hard decision in a previous role?
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 Python.
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 Python, learn the team quickly, and contribute to the outcomes Lanark Weaver Consulting needs from this hire.