GitHub
Principal Software Engineer
United States · Principal
Sponsorship not specifiedDetected 204 days ago
JavaScriptPythonJavaGoC++C#RubyDistributed SystemsCode ReviewGitAWSAzureCloud PlatformsA/B TestingExcelElectrical EngineeringLeadershipMentoring
Stay score
odds of building a lasting career here
37Risky
Cap-exempt (no lottery)0
Sponsors this role80
Entry-level history0
PERM / green-card track0
Lottery odds40
Fits your clock70
Thin sponsorship signal and lottery-bound. A low-probability bet with your clock running. Prioritize cap-exempt roles and proven entry-level sponsors first.
Lottery odds assume a STEM candidate.
Personalize to your clock →Employer immigration record
from this employer's Department of Labor filings
Green-card filing pattern in this occupation
Context, not a finding about this posting: of this employer's 4 green-card filings in this occupation, 100% were for a worker who already held the job.
Green-card follow-through: 100%
Of 5 labor certifications old enough to have been used, 0 expired without the employer filing the next step. Median time from filing to decision: 483 days.100% of their filings were for a worker who already held the job.Only certifications past the 180-day window are counted — recent ones cannot have expired yet.
Files H-1B transfers
1 transfer filing in the last year, covering 1 worker. Median labor-condition decision: 7 days. An employer that already files transfers is one that can take over an existing H-1B.
Sourced from Department of Labor LCA, PERM and prevailing-wage disclosure data. Employer matching is by name, so figures may be split across an employer's legal entities. Absence of a filing means none appears in our copy of the data, not that none exists.
Community outcomes
No reports yet — be the first to help the next applicant.
About the role
- GitHub is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to help shape the future of our core platform infrastructure.
- Our team focuses on the systems that power GitHub at scale, ensuring our platforms remain stable, secure, and performant under extreme load.
Responsibilities
- Lead and influence system architecture design for complex products and solutions, ensuring they meet security, compliance, and performance requirements.
- Partner with product managers and technical leads to define service requirements and incorporate feedback into future designs.
- Optimize deployments and runtime performance to meet business objectives, ensuring safe rollouts aligned with GitHub's standards.
- Drive improvements in development quality and team performance through tooling, automation, and knowledge sharing.
- Lead product refinement through telemetry analysis, performance metrics, and experimentation frameworks to inform engineering decisions.
- Develop strategies to identify and mitigate technical risks, including frameworks for risk assessment and contingency planning.
- In this critical leadership position, you'll drive system architecture for our most critical services, inspire and coach engineering teams, and deliver solutions that keep GitHub running for millions of developers worldwide.
- You'll lead by example-both through your own technical contributions and by mentoring others.
- You'll guide technical strategy, influence architectural decisions, and drive performance optimization across teams.
- Own the outcome
Requirements
- You have a proven track record of tackling complex technical challenges with creativity and pragmatism, and you excel in highly collaborative, cross-functional environments.
- Required Qualifications:
- 11+ years experience in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or related technical discipline with proven experience maintaining and delivering production software coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Go, Ruby, Rust, or Python,
- OR Associate's Degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Math, Physics, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field AND 10+ years experience in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or related technical discipline with proven experience maintaining and delivering production software coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Go, Ruby, Rust, or Python,
- OR Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related field AND 9+ years experience in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or related technical discipline with proven experience maintaining and delivering production software coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Go, Ruby, Rust, or Python,
- OR Master's Degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Math, Physics, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field AND 7+ years experience in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or related technical discipline with proven experience maintaining and delivering production software coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Go, Ruby, Rust, or Python,
- OR PhD Degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Math, Physics, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field AND 5+ years experience in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or related technical discipline with proven experience maintaining and delivering production software coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Go, Ruby, Rust, or Python,
- OR equivalent experience.
Nice to have
- Experience with cloud platforms like Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services
- Understanding of production system monitoring and observability
- Demonstrated experience with large-scale system architecture and design, particularly in cloud-based environments, with a strong understanding of distributed systems and microservices
- Compensation Range
- These pay ranges are intended to cover roles based across the United States.
- These rewards are allocated based on individual impact in role.
- In addition, certain roles also have the opportunity to earn sales incentives based on revenue or utilization, depending on the terms of the plan and the employee's role.
- Customer-obsessed
Compensation
- The base salary range for this job is USD $160,200.00 - USD $425,000.00 /Yr.
- These pay ranges are intended to cover roles based across the United States.
- An individual's base pay depends on various factors including geographical location and review of experience, knowledge, skills, abilities of the applicant.
- At GitHub certain roles are eligible for benefits and additional rewards, including annual bonus and stock.
Benefits
- Shape the strategic vision for technology and product development, identifying opportunities for innovation and leading initiatives aligned with GitHub's long-term goals.
Company info
- GitHub is the world's leading AI-powered developer platform with 150 million developers and counting.
- We're also home to the biggest open-source community on earth (and 99% of the world's software has open-source code in its DNA).
- Many of the apps and programs you use every day are built on GitHub.
- Our teams are dreamers, doers, and pioneers, leading the way in AI, driving humanitarian efforts around the globe, and even sending open source to Mars (and beyond!).
- At GitHub, our goal is to create the space you need to do your best work.
- We're remote-first and offer competitive pay, generous learning and growth opportunities, and excellent benefits to support you, wherever you are-because we know that people flourish when they can work on their own terms.
- Join us, and let's change the world, together.
- EEO Statement
- GitHub is made up of people from a wide variety of backgrounds and lifestyles.
- We embrace diversity and invite applications from people of all walks of life.
- We don't discriminate against employees or applicants based on gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, race, religion, age, national origin, citizenship, disability, pregnancy status, veteran status, or any other differences.
- Also, if you have a disability, please let us know if there's any way we can make the interview process better for you; we're happy to accommodate!
- Our culture is built on developer empathy, transparency, and inclusive collaboration.
- Here, curiosity and a drive for impact are at the heart of everything we do.
Visa & Work Authorization
- ployees or applicants based on gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, race, religion, age, national origin, citizenship, disability, pregnancy status, veteran status, or any other differences
This listing is sourced directly from GitHub's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.