Kalkomey

Principal Backend Engineer (Ruby on Rails)

Remote (United States) · Principal

Sponsorship not specifiedDetected 12 days ago

RubyRailsDistributed SystemsCode ReviewAWSCloud PlatformsCI/CDMachine LearningA/B TestingLeadershipCommunicationMentoring

About the role

About Kalkomey Kalkomey Enterprises is the trusted guide to outdoor success. Every year, millions of people rely on our platform to gain the knowledge and confidence needed to safely explore the outdoors. Since 1995, Kalkomey has partnered with government agencies across North America to deliver the education that powers responsible outdoor recreation. Our
courses and technology platforms support certification programs used by wildlife, parks, and boating agencies while helping outdoor enthusiasts develop the skills needed to safely enjoy activities like hunting, fishing, boating, and snowmobiling. Today, Kalkomey offers more than 360 online learning experiences supported by integrated web and mobile

Own the technical strategy and architecture for our backend systems - making and documenting decisions that affect scalability, reliability, and long-term maintainability, and proactively identifying and addressing architectural risk and technical debt.
Lead design reviews for major backend initiatives and capture significant decisions as architecture decision records (ADRs).
Define and own the functional discipline roadmap for backend engineering, aligned to the organization-wide roadmap, and partner with Product Leadership to identify and champion cross-cutting strategic initiatives.
Lead evaluations of third-party engineering tools, making the final call based on technical merit and fit.
Use AI tooling fluently to accelerate your own work and the team's - not as a novelty, but as a genuine multiplier - and show others how to get strong results from it.
Mentor engineers through pairing, design reviews, and feedback, and share knowledge broadly through tech talks and playbook contributions.
This is a high-ownership role for someone who leads through expertise and trust rather than title.
We're looking for proven practice and strong fundamentals - not a background building AI/ML systems.

8+ years of professional software engineering experience, with demonstrated progression into senior technical leadership.
Deep expertise in backend engineering, with strong, current command of Ruby on Rails.
Proven experience designing and delivering large-scale, distributed systems that are maintainable, observable, and reliable in production.
Excellent written and verbal communication - you can produce clear architecture docs, decision records, and technical specs, and explain them to engineers and non-engineers alike.
Experience with experimentation platforms (Optimizely, LaunchDarkly, VWO, or similar) and product analytics tools (Mixpanel, Amplitude).
A bachelor's or advanced degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field - though experience speaks louder.
Competencies Technical Depth & Breadth - Holds deep expertise in backend systems while maintaining enough breadth to reason across the stack and make sound architectural trade-offs.
Technical Leadership Without Authority - Influences engineering direction, standards, and culture through expertise and trust, not title or mandate.
Delivery at Scope - Operates strategically without losing the ability to ship

Familiarity with cloud infrastructure, CI/CD pipelines, and Infrastructure/Platform practices (AWS preferred).

About Kalkomey Kalkomey Enterprises is the trusted guide to outdoor success.
Every year, millions of people rely on our platform to gain the knowledge and confidence needed to safely explore the outdoors.
Today, Kalkomey offers more than 360 online learning experiences supported by integrated web and mobile applications.
Together, these solutions help make outdoor recreation more accessible, responsible, and safe for generations to come.

You'll own the architecture, standards, and long-term health of those systems while staying hands-on with production code.
Bonus points Experience in a principal, staff, or architect-level role at a product-driven technology company.

This listing is sourced directly from Kalkomey's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.