Freelance Fresh Graduate Software Engineer Jobs in Chicago, IL

Resource Innovations is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to join our growing Software as a Service (SaaS) team. This is a highly influential, hands-on technical role responsible for helping shape the future architecture of our enterprise software platform.

You will partner with senior engineers, product leaders, and cross-functional teams to modernize a complex, business-critical platform used by leading energy organizations. You will bring proven experience designing and evolving large-scale enterprise systems, while combining a fresh architectural perspective with the deep product and domain knowledge of the existing team.

The ideal candidate is both a senior architect and an accomplished software developer who can establish technical direction, translate architectural vision into practical execution, and remain actively involved in design and development. We are looking for someone who is passionate about product craftsmanship, modern engineering practices, and building technology that makes a meaningful impact on the world.

This is a remote position requiring occasional in-person office meetings for candidates residing in one of the following metro areas: San Francisco, CA; Chicago, IL; Phoenix, AZ; Denver, CO; Salt Lake City, UT; or Madison, WI. Candidates must currently reside in the United States. Resource Innovations is not offering visa sponsorship or extensions for this position.

Resource Innovations is a women-led energy transformation firm focused on impact. Building on our expertise in energy efficiency, we are continually expanding our portfolio of clean energy solutions to help utilities navigate increasingly complex and connected challenges, including load flexibility, electrification, and carbon reduction. With every step, we are leading the charge to power change.

• Define and guide the evolution of the platform architecture to improve scalability, reliability, performance, security, and maintainability.
• Develop a practical, phased modernization approach that balances future-state architecture with current customer and business commitments.
• Remain hands-on in the design and development of critical platform capabilities, architectural patterns, and proof-of-concept solutions.
• Lead technical design and code reviews, establish engineering standards, and guide complex decisions across application, integration, data, and cloud architecture.
• Partner with senior engineers and cross-functional teams to resolve complex technical challenges, mentor engineers, and translate technical direction into successful delivery.

Requirements

• Bachelor's or master's degree in computer science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

• 15+ years of software engineering experience building complex, scalable, and reliable enterprise applications.
• Experience operating at a Principal, Staff, Architect, or equivalent technical leadership level.
• Proven experience designing and modernizing established enterprise software platforms.
• Experience defining technical direction and influencing decisions across multiple engineering teams.
• Strong hands-on development experience and the ability to translate architectural strategy into practical implementation.

• Expert-level proficiency in Java and Spring Boot, with working knowledge of Python.
• Deep experience with enterprise architecture, distributed systems, microservices, APIs, integration patterns, and event-driven design.
• Strong experience with AWS, cloud-native application design, CI/CD, containers, and Kubernetes or similar platforms.
• Experience with relational and NoSQL databases, data pipelines, messaging systems, search platforms, and observability tools.
• Strong understanding of application security, performance, resiliency, scalability, and production-readiness practices.

• Strong architectural judgment with the ability to balance long-term direction and pragmatic delivery.
• Ability to influence and build alignment across teams without direct authority.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, verbal, and written communication skills.
• Collaborative approach that values and leverages the knowledge of existing team members.
• Ability to clearly communicate technical options, tradeoffs, and risks to both technical and business stakeholders.

• Modernizing mature, business-critical SaaS platforms while maintaining customer and operational continuity.
• Supporting enterprise platforms with large data volumes, complex workflows, and extensive integrations.
• Experience with Angular or comparable web technologies.
• Familiarity with AI-assisted development tools such as GitHub Copilot, Claude, or equivalent.
• Knowledge of the energy, utility, energy-efficiency, or clean-energy technology industry.

Benefits

About Resource Innovations

Resource Innovations (RI) is a women-led energy transformation firm focused on impact. Building on our expertise in energy efficiency, we're constantly expanding our portfolio of clean energy solutions to guide utilities through increasingly complex, connected challenges. Load flexibility. Electrification. Carbon reduction. With every step, we're leading the charge to power change.

Resource Innovations is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to ensuring equal employment opportunities for all job applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, disability, marital status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, or any other protected status. In addition to federal law requirements, Resource Innovations complies with applicable state and local laws governing non-discrimination in employment in every location in which the company does work.

Compensation & Benefits

Resource Innovations offers competitive salaries based on a candidate's skills, experience and qualifications for the position.  The compensation range for the base salary for this position is $140,000- $195,000. In addition to base pay, employees may be eligible for a discretionary annual bonus.  The stated salary represents the expected compensation for this position. Final compensation will be determined based on factors such as the candidate's experience, education and location. 

At Resource Innovations, we believe supporting our people is essential to delivering impact. We offer a comprehensive benefits package designed to promote health, financial security, and work-life balance. This includes three weeks of paid vacation annually, paid holidays, a 401(k) retirement plan with employer match, medical, dental and vision coverage, parental leave, an employee assistance program, commuter benefits, and additional supplemental offerings.

Employment with Resource Innovations is contingent upon the successful completion of a comprehensive background check and reference check. If applicable to the position, a pre-employment drug screen may also be required.

The above job description and job requirements are not intended to be all inclusive. Resource Innovations retains the right to make changes or adjustments to job descriptions and/or job requirements at any time without notice.