Remote Principal Java Software Engineer Jobs in Illinois

Senior Software Engineer- Fullstack

HONK Technologies redefines the towing and roadside assistance experience and remains dedicated to turning difficult automotive situations into positive, brand-defining experiences. With the highest customer satisfaction scores in the industry and a continued commitment to digital innovation and excellence, HONK remains a trusted partner for some of the nation's largest insurers, fleets, automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and retailers.

We are a fast-moving, product-driven engineering organization focused on building reliable, real-time systems that operate at scale.

The Role

HONK is seeking a Senior Software Engineer- Fullstack to help architect, build, and scale our core platform and customer-facing products. This role works closely with the CTO and engineering team to develop high-performance applications across the stack, including frontend experiences, backend services, APIs, and cloud infrastructure.

This is a hands-on role ideal for someone who enjoys solving complex technical problems, shipping quickly, and contributing to product and technical direction in a collaborative startup environment. This position reports directly to the CTO and is expected to work from our Chicago office 3-5 days per week.

What You'll Own

• Design, build, and maintain scalable full-stack applications and services.
• Develop responsive frontend applications using React and TypeScript.
• Build and enhance backend systems using Ruby on Rails and Java.
• Architect APIs, real-time systems, and high-throughput microservices, with a heavy focus on optimizing our core dispatch and logistics engine.
• Define testing and review practices, introducing automated frameworks into our release process to improve reliability.
• Improve platform scalability and reliability by anticipating scaling limits, raising reliability risks early, and improving system observability.
• Take ownership of a technical area and its downstream impacts, ensuring decisions align with product goals and do not negatively affect dependent systems or the business.
• Collaborate with Product, UX, and Engineering teams to ship customer-facing features.
• Support AI-enabled initiatives and automation efforts across internal tools and workflows.
• Mentor engineers, provide architectural guidance, and help drive engineering excellence across the team.

What You Bring

• 8+ years of experience building and shipping scalable web applications and distributed systems, ideally with experience preparing platforms for significant (3-5x) scale.
• Deep expertise in Ruby on Rails and Java (our core backend languages).
• Strong frontend engineering experience with modern JavaScript frameworks, particularly React and TypeScript.
• Demonstrated experience with AWS cloud infrastructure.
• Domain expertise in logistics, routing, mapping, or dispatch systems (familiarity with route optimization is a significant plus).
• A proven track record of establishing automated testing frameworks and CI/CD quality gates from scratch, rather than simply participating in an existing testing culture.
• Strong systems context awareness, demonstrating the ability to consider downstream effects across adjacent systems to avoid cascading failures.
• Experience contributing to operational excellence, including establishing observability metrics, monitoring, and proactive debugging of performance issues.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to facilitate discussions, clearly communicate technical trade-offs to non-technical stakeholders, and align teams on technical direction.
• Curiosity about emerging technologies and experience leveraging AI tools and workflows to improve development velocity.

$160,000 - $185,000 a year The pay for this position is based on a number of factors, including market location, and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. HONK is a total compensation company. Depending on the position offered, commission and other forms of compensation may be provided as part of a total compensation package, in addition to a full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits.

At HONK, we're a community of diverse and passionate individuals who believe in the power of remote work and the strength of inclusivity. As a remote-first company, we embrace the boundless possibilities of collaboration and flexibility, allowing our team members to thrive from anywhere in the US.

HONK is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Employment decisions at HONK are based on merit, qualifications, and business needs without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by law. Note: HONK does not work with third-party recruiters or staffing agencies for this role. Please be aware of recruiting scams and fraudulent outreach impersonating employers online. All communication regarding this opportunity will come directly from the HONK team through official company channels.