Principal Software Engineer, Product

The role

You will lead the technical vision, architecture, and roadmap for user-facing systems. You will work on web and multi-platform products including real-time collaboration and generative AI workflows.

What you will do

• Own and define the architecture and technical strategy for web and multi-platform products
• Spearhead development of real-time collaboration, messaging, and live multi-user interactions
• Drive product features from ideation through scoping, development, launch, and continuous improvement
• Integrate complex generative AI workflows into creative tooling
• Partner with product and design leaders to deliver creative workflows
• Champion technical excellence through architecture reviews, mentorship, and proposals
• Oversee and improve cross-service metrics, tracing, and observability

Required qualifications

• 8+ years of professional software engineering experience
• Substantial time in senior/principal engineering and product-focused roles
• Track record leading the design, execution, and scaling of high-impact web or mobile products (React, TypeScript, Node.js, Go, or similar)
• Demonstrated strategy and execution in building robust, user-centric features for creative applications
• Comprehensive expertise in systems design: distributed systems, scalable APIs, and cloud infrastructure (AWS/GCP)
• Experience working across the stack, including ML/AI infrastructure (Python, GPU-backed workflows) as required
• Exceptional product intuition and a strategic mindset
• Excellent communication and leadership skills
• Strong sense of ownership and passion for delivering delightful creative experiences at scale

Nice to have

• Experience building or integrating generative AI, agentic workflows, or ML inference platforms (Python/PyTorch)
• Creative background (design, art, architecture, or similar)
• Expertise in media-rich and real-time collaboration applications
• Startup experience and proven ability to thrive in fast-paced, ambiguous environments

Benefits

• Competitive salary in the AI industry
• Significant equity in a rapidly growing startup
• Comprehensive health benefits
• Monthly stipends
• Company retreats

About the company

Pika is building the next generation of AI creative tools to empower human creativity. The team includes engineers, artists, and product thinkers based in Palo Alto, CA.