Principal Engineer — Real-Time Data Systems

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Principal Engineer — Real-Time Data Systems based in Switzerland.

This role offers the opportunity to design and scale cutting-edge real-time data systems that power intelligent, personalized experiences at global scale. The Principal Engineer will lead the architecture and evolution of high-performance streaming platforms handling massive volumes of real-time events. Working at the intersection of distributed systems, cloud infrastructure, and AI-driven technologies, this position tackles some of the most complex engineering challenges in modern computing. The successful candidate will influence core technical decisions, improve system reliability, and enable faster, smarter product experiences. This is a hands-on technical leadership opportunity within a highly autonomous environment focused on innovation, ownership, and measurable impact. The role is ideal for an experienced engineer passionate about building ultra-low-latency systems and solving large-scale infrastructure challenges.

Accountabilities: The Principal Engineer will play a key role in shaping the architecture, scalability, and reliability of real-time data platforms. This position combines deep technical expertise with strategic leadership, requiring the ability to solve complex distributed systems challenges while collaborating with engineering teams to deliver high-impact solutions.

Key responsibilities include:

Architect, design, and improve real-time data streaming systems that process millions of events per second with extremely low latency.

Lead the development and evolution of core data infrastructure supporting real-time decision-making and personalization capabilities.

Solve complex engineering challenges related to distributed systems, event processing, fault tolerance, scalability, and performance optimization.

Design and implement solutions for ultra-low-latency ingestion, distributed caching, deduplication, and large-scale event computation.

Own major technical initiatives from concept through execution, ensuring high-quality and scalable outcomes.

Analyze system performance, identify bottlenecks, and drive improvements across the data platform.

Collaborate closely with engineering teams to establish technical direction and best practices.

Mentor engineers, share technical knowledge, and contribute to building a culture of engineering excellence.

Balance technical innovation with product impact by ensuring engineering decisions create meaningful customer value.

Requirements

The ideal candidate will have extensive experience designing and building large-scale distributed systems, with a strong understanding of real-time data processing architectures. This role requires a highly autonomous engineer who combines deep technical skills with strong communication abilities and a product-focused mindset.

Required qualifications and skills include:

Proven expertise in distributed systems, stream processing, or event-driven architectures.

Strong experience with technologies such as Kafka, Flink, Pulsar, or similar real-time data processing frameworks.

Demonstrated ability to build and operate low-latency, high-throughput systems at significant scale.

Deep understanding of data infrastructure concepts, including event processing, fault tolerance, scalability, and system reliability.

Experience leading major technical initiatives and making architecture decisions in fast-moving environments.

Strong programming and software engineering fundamentals with experience building production-grade systems.

Product-oriented mindset with a focus on connecting technical solutions to customer outcomes.

Excellent communication skills with the ability to influence technical direction and collaborate across teams.

Passion for mentoring engineers and contributing to a strong engineering culture.

Ability to thrive in autonomous environments with complex technical challenges and evolving priorities.

Benefits

The position provides the opportunity to work on advanced technology initiatives while enjoying flexibility and strong professional growth opportunities.

Benefits include:

Fully remote work flexibility.

Competitive compensation of up to $300,000 USD .

Additional perks and benefits package.

Opportunity to build systems operating at global scale with significant technical complexity.

Exposure to advanced areas including AI-driven platforms, cloud infrastructure, and real-time data processing.

High level of autonomy and ownership over impactful engineering initiatives.

Collaborative environment focused on innovation, technical excellence, and continuous improvement.

Opportunity to mentor talented engineers and influence engineering practices.

How Jobgether works: We use an AI-powered matching process to ensure your application is reviewed quickly, objectively, and fairly against the role's core requirements. Our system identifies the top-fitting candidates, and this shortlist is then shared directly with the hiring company. The final decision and next steps (interviews, assessments) are managed by their internal team. We appreciate your interest and wish you the best!  Why Apply Through Jobgether?    Data Privacy Notice: By submitting your application, you acknowledge that Jobgether will process your personal data to evaluate your candidacy and share relevant information with the hiring employer. This processing is based on legitimate interest and pre-contractual measures under applicable data protection laws (including GDPR). You may exercise your rights (access, rectification, erasure, objection) at any time.     #LI-CL1