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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 clients’ 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+

What You’ll Do

Newline™ 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. 

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 innovation—from early payment networks to scaling global processing infrastructure—Newline combines world-class banking, risk management, and technology to unlock modern financial ecosystems. 

GENERAL FUNCTION 

We’re hiring a Principal Software Engineer to operate at the intersection of software engineering, production systems, and embedded payments—a hands-on technical leader who thrives in complex, high-scale environments and wants to directly influence how production systems behave. 

This is not a traditional support role. You’ll 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. 

If you’re someone who enjoys debugging distributed systems, understanding transaction lifecycles, and making systems fundamentally more reliable over time, this is a high-impact role. 

 ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 

What you’ll Do 

You will focus on improving system reliability by diagnosing complex production issues and driving systemic fixes across the platform: 

• Lead complex production triage and incident response across APIs, payment flows, distributed services, infrastructure, and data layers 
• Debug real-world issues involving transaction lifecycles, integrations, and system dependencies 
• Partner with engineering to turn incidents into permanent fixes, not recurring problems 
• Improve platform reliability through code changes, automation, observability, and better system design 
• Build and enhance:  
• Monitoring and alerting strategies 
• Runbooks and diagnostic workflows 
• Operational tooling and automation 
• Work across a mixed stack including Ruby (Rails), Java, AWS, APIs, and data systems 
• Help teams design systems that are observable, debuggable, and resilient from day one 
• Mentor engineers and influence best practices across engineering, SRE, and operations 

MINIMUM KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES REQUIRED 

• 8+ years in software engineering, SRE, production engineering, or building and operating distributed systems 
• Strong experience debugging production issues end-to-end (code → infra → data → dependencies) 
• Experience with:  
• Ruby (Rails) and/or Java services 
• AWS and cloud-native environments 
• APIs, microservices, and distributed systems troubleshooting 
• SQL and data-level investigation 
• Hands-on experience with observability tools (Splunk, Datadog, New Relic, etc.) 
• Deep understanding of:  
• System behavior in production 
• Fault isolation 
• Performance and resiliency patterns 
• Ability to operate calmly and effectively during incidents and escalations 
• Strong communication skills—comfortable explaining complex issues to technical and non-technical stakeholders 
• Experience in payments, fintech, or regulated environments is strongly preferred 
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent experience 

WHY JOIN NEWLINE? 

• Help operate and scale a modern embedded finance platform backed by a top U.S. bank 
• Work at the intersection of fintech innovation, real-time payments, operational excellence, and enterprise-grade reliability 
• Solve complex technical problems across payment flows, application services, infrastructure, observability, and client-impacting operations 
• Be part of a culture focused on ownership, learning, automation, and continuous improvement 

What You’ll 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
• You’ll be eligible to earn referral bonuses!