For more than three decades, Strategic Data Systems (SDS) has been a software consultancy firm specializing in strategy, technology, and business transformation for Fortune 100 companies, mid-sized firms, and startups. At SDS, we empower our development teams to address our clientsโ critical business challenges by leveraging cutting edge technologies. If you seek a workplace where your contributions are truly appreciated, then SDS is the company for you. Join us today to work alongside fellow development specialists and become a crucial part of our dynamic and cohesive community.
Job Title: Principal Software Engineer
Location: REMOTE EST/CST
Years of Experience: 10+
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What Youโll Do
Newlineโข is an enterprise-grade embedded finance platform powering the next generation of financial products. We provide API-first infrastructure and managed services that enable startups and enterprises to build, launch, and scale compliant banking, payments, and lending experiences.ย
From fintech and payments to banking-as-a-service and lending platforms, Newline helps clients deliver financial capabilities directly within their products. Backed by a long legacy of innovationโfrom early payment networks to scaling global processing infrastructureโNewline combines world-class banking, risk management, and technology to unlock modern financial ecosystems.ย
GENERAL FUNCTIONย
Weโre hiring a Principal Software Engineer to operate at the intersection of software engineering, production systems, and embedded paymentsโa hands-on technical leader who thrives in complex, high-scale environments and wants to directly influence how production systems behave.ย
This is not a traditional support role. Youโll be embedded with our operations function as an engineer, partnering across product, SRE, and platform teams to diagnose complex issues, improve system reliability, and turn production learnings into durable platform improvements.ย
If youโre someone who enjoys debugging distributed systems, understanding transaction lifecycles, and making systems fundamentally more reliable over time, this is a high-impact role.ย
ย ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIESย
What youโll Doย
You will focus on improving system reliability by diagnosing complex production issues and driving systemic fixes across the platform:ย
- Lead complex production triage and incident response across APIs, payment flows, distributed services, infrastructure, and data layersย
- Debug real-world issues involving transaction lifecycles, integrations, and system dependenciesย
- Partner with engineering to turn incidents into permanent fixes, not recurring problemsย
- Improve platform reliability through code changes, automation, observability, and better system designย
- Build and enhance:ย ย
- Monitoring and alerting strategiesย
- Runbooks and diagnostic workflowsย
- Operational tooling and automationย
- Work across a mixed stack including Ruby (Rails), Java, AWS, APIs, and data systemsย
- Help teams design systems that are observable, debuggable, and resilient from day oneย
- Mentor engineers and influence best practices across engineering, SRE, and operationsย
MINIMUM KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES REQUIREDย
- 8+ years in software engineering, SRE, production engineering, or building and operating distributed systemsย
- Strong experience debugging production issues end-to-end (code โ infra โ data โ dependencies)ย
- Experience with:ย ย
- Ruby (Rails) and/or Java servicesย
- AWS and cloud-native environmentsย
- APIs, microservices, and distributed systems troubleshootingย
- SQL and data-level investigationย
- Hands-on experience with observability tools (Splunk, Datadog, New Relic, etc.)ย
- Deep understanding of:ย ย
- System behavior in productionย
- Fault isolationย
- Performance and resiliency patternsย
- Ability to operate calmly and effectively during incidents and escalationsย
- Strong communication skillsโcomfortable explaining complex issues to technical and non-technical stakeholdersย
- Experience in payments, fintech, or regulated environments is strongly preferredย
- Bachelorโs degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent experienceย
WHY JOIN NEWLINE?ย
- Help operate and scale a modern embedded finance platform backed by a top U.S. bankย
- Work at the intersection of fintech innovation, real-time payments, operational excellence, and enterprise-grade reliabilityย
- Solve complex technical problems across payment flows, application services, infrastructure, observability, and client-impacting operationsย
- Be part of a culture focused on ownership, learning, automation, and continuous improvementย
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What Youโll Get
SDS, Inc. provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, amnesty, or status as a covered veteran in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws.
- Competitive base salary
- Medical, dental, and vision insurance coverage
- Optional life and disability insurance provided
- 401(k) with a company match and optional profit sharing
- Paid vacation time
- Paid Bench time
- Training allowance offering
- Youโll be eligible to earn referral bonuses!