Principal Software Engineer (Autonomy Services)
$147,760–$240,110 year
On-siteIrving, Texas, United States
Job Summary
Define architecture and integration strategies for Physical AI services, digital twin integration, and cloud-native backend platforms. Build scalable microservices and APIs using Java, Spring Boot, or Python, while establishing engineering standards and driving platform consistency across teams. Lead design and delivery of secure, high-performance cloud-native services and integration adapters, enforcing API standards and service contracts for distributed systems. Provide technical leadership on complex system design, code review, and operational readiness, mentoring engineers in microservices design and backend engineering best practices. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to define integration contracts and platform service boundaries, driving simplification and reuse. This role supports Caterpillar's Cat Technology mission to build intelligence layers connecting machines, data, and people for safer, more sustainable jobsites.
Required Qualifications
- Knowledge of software product design; ability to convert market requirements into software product design and strategic technical direction.
- Knowledge of technical aspects of software products; ability to design, configure, and integrate technical aspects of software products.
- Knowledge of the decision-making process and associated tools and techniques; ability to accurately analyze situations and reach productive decisions based on informed judgment.
- Understanding of effective communication concepts, tools, and techniques; ability to effectively transmit, receive, and accurately interpret ideas, information, and needs through appropriate communication behaviors.
- Strong experience building backend microservices and APIs (REST, gRPC, event-driven) for autonomy or real-time systems.
- Experience in autonomy systems, robotics, simulation, or real-time control platforms.
- Expertise in designing scalable cloud-native architectures, service contracts, and integration patterns.
- Strong backend development using Java or Python for APIs, orchestration, and data processing.
- Deep understanding and application of design patterns.
- Experience with AI-assisted/agentic development workflows and validating AI-generated code.
- Understanding of high-reliability systems (async workflows, retries, idempotency, observability)
- Must be based in Irving, TX (Dallas)
- Domestic relocation assistance is available for this position
- Visa sponsorship is available for this position
- This position requires working onsite five days a week
- Offer of employment is conditioned upon the successful completion of a drug screen
Desired Qualifications
- Nice to Have: Experience building production AI agents using Python
- Nice to Have: Experience with agent orchestration frameworks such as LangChain or LangGraph
- Nice to Have: Experience integration LLMs with external tools, APIs, databases, and retrieval systems
- Nice to Have: Experience designing evals, guardrails, and monitoring for agent reliability
- Nice to Have: Multi-agent workflow design and memory/context management
- Nice to Have: Prompt optimization, latency reduction, and cost control
- Nice to Have: MLOps or model deployment experience
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