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Principal Engineer, Core Product (Hybrid)

HomebaseSan FranciscoEngineering
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Salary
$237,300 - $305,800 USD
Job type
Full-time
Work mode
Remote
Posted
4 Sept 2026
Status
Open · checked 7d ago

About this role

As the Principal Engineer, Core Product at Homebase in San Francisco, you will drive technical strategy and architecture across critical domains like payroll, scheduling, time tracking, and HRM. This hybrid position is tailored for an experienced technical leader who thrives on building scalable distributed systems and shaping the future of small business software.

Role Overview

In this senior technical leadership role, you will operate at the intersection of deep technical craft and business impact, looking 18+ months ahead to deliver resilient capabilities for over 100,000 small businesses. Working closely with product, data, design, and engineering leadership, you will guide technical vision across core product domains and champion modern engineering standards.

Key Responsibilities

Collaborate with the Technical Leadership group of Staff and Principal Engineers to drive Homebase's technical vision across Core Product domains.
Champion and deliver an API strategy that enables internal velocity, external integrations, and future partnership opportunities.
Lead the decomposition of core product systems into well-bounded services utilizing domain-driven design and SOA principles.
Identify and resolve cross-cutting technical challenges, including data consistency, performance bottlenecks, and reliability gaps.
Support engineering culture by driving standards, mentoring senior and staff engineers, and establishing adoption patterns.
Partner with Product, Data, Design, and Engineering leadership to align technical strategy with overall business priorities.
Experiment with and deploy AI-first engineering workflows to accelerate code generation, test automation, and overall team delivery velocity.

Requirements

12+ years of software engineering experience, featuring significant depth in scaling distributed systems and evolving legacy architectures.
Strong background working with Ruby/Rails.
Demonstrated track record of defining and executing technical strategy across multiple product domains or teams.
Deep expertise in domain-driven design, API design, SOA, and event-driven architectures.
Proven ability to influence without authority, driving alignment through clarity of thought and collaboration.
Active, high-leverage AI fluency with daily use of AI tools to improve engineering outcomes.
Strong communication skills capable of explaining complex technical decisions to engineers, product managers, and executives.

Nice to Have

Experience with payroll, workforce management, or similarly complex business domains.

Skills and Tools

Ruby/Rails
Distributed Systems
Domain-Driven Design (DDD)
Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA)
API Design
Event-Driven Architectures
AI Engineering Tools

Salary and Benefits

Annual salary range of $237,300 to $305,800 USD.
Stock options and 401(k) with a 4% match.
Comprehensive healthcare including medical, dental, and vision coverage, plus FSA options.
Flexible paid time off, company holidays, and designated focus periods.
Paid AI tool access with minimal restrictions to build and experiment.
Up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave after 6 months of service.
Life insurance and short/long-term disability coverage.
Work From Anywhere Month, meeting-free weeks, meals provided, commuter benefits, team offsites, and Customer Days.
Hybrid work rhythm with required in-office days on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

About the Company

Homebase is the all-in-one app for hourly teams, offering tools for scheduling, time clocks, payroll, communication, and HR to help over 150,000 small businesses simplify their day-to-day operations. The company fosters a bold, fast-moving environment where teams build with empathy, act with urgency, and celebrate wins together as a unified group of Homies.

How to Apply

Interested candidates should visit the official Homebase careers page to submit an application and view further details about the hiring process.

Questions candidates ask

What is the salary range for this role?

The annual salary ranges from $237,300 to $305,800 USD.

Is this a remote or hybrid position?

This is a hybrid role based in San Francisco, with Tuesdays and Wednesdays designated as required in-office days.

What level of experience is required?

Candidates must have 12+ years of software engineering experience, including significant depth in scaling distributed systems and evolving legacy architectures.

What technical background is ideal for this position?

An ideal candidate brings a strong background in Ruby/Rails, domain-driven design, API design, SOA, and event-driven architectures.

What benefits are included in the compensation package?

Benefits include stock options, a 401(k) with a 4% match, comprehensive healthcare, flexible PTO, paid parental leave, life and disability insurance, and paid access to AI tools.

Ready to apply?

The application is on the official Homebase careers page.

Apply on company site