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ITHAKAPrincipal Software Engineer
ITHAKA is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to lead the technology vision for the JSTOR Business platform team, focusing on books and royalty payments. ITHAKA provides…
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About This Role
ITHAKA is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to lead the technology vision for the JSTOR Business platform team, focusing on books and royalty payments. ITHAKA provides services such as JSTOR, Portico, and Ithaka S+R to expand access to knowledge and education globally. In this role, the engineer will balance hands-on development with long-term architectural leadership, defining backend strategies, distributed systems, search platforms, and APIs. The ideal candidate will possess extensive…
Job Description
ITHAKA is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to lead the technology vision for the JSTOR Business platform team, focusing on books and royalty payments. ITHAKA provides services such as JSTOR, Portico, and Ithaka S+R to expand access to knowledge and education globally. In this role, the engineer will balance hands-on development with long-term architectural leadership, defining backend strategies, distributed systems, search platforms, and APIs. The ideal candidate will possess extensive experience designing and operating large-scale distributed systems, taking full ownership of complex financial and ordering flows.
Depending on experience, candidates may be considered at the Lead level with over 5 years of experience, or the Principal level requiring 12 or more years of experience. Responsibilities include shaping multi-year backend technology roadmaps, mentoring engineering talent, establishing engineering standards, and collaborating cross-functionally with product, data science, and external partners. ITHAKA operates with a commitment to fair pay and supports a collaborative organizational culture focused on technical excellence and user impact.
Responsibilities
- Define and drive the multi-year backend technology strategy and architectural roadmap for books and royalty payment platforms.
- Design, build, and improve highly available ordering and digital book fulfillment systems using Java, Spring Boot, Maven, MySQL, and Redis.
- Own the end-to-end technical integrity of financial flows including ordering, fulfillment, invoicing, and royalty payments.
- Mentor engineers and technical leaders through architecture reviews, technical guidance, and knowledge sharing.
- Partner with product, AI, external partners, data science, and platform engineering teams to validate solutions and align technology investments.
Requirements
- 12+ years of experience designing, building, and operating large-scale distributed systems with deep expertise in backend architecture and technical leadership.
- Demonstrated experience defining technology strategy, leading cross-team architectural initiatives, and producing written strategy documents.
- Track record of owning the architecture of systems where correctness has direct financial consequences like billing, payments, or royalties.
- Deep practical experience with consistency in distributed and integrated systems, such as idempotent processing and deduplication.
- Experience integrating with enterprise systems like CRM, finance platforms, and tax engines.
Qualifications
- Domain experience in publishing, digital content licensing, royalty management, or revenue operations.
Core Skills
Benefits
- Medical, dental, and vision plans
- Employer-paid 10 percent retirement contribution
- Paid parental and caregiver leave
- 22 days of paid time off
- 11 paid holidays
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers are based only on the employer’s listing; where it doesn’t say, neither do we.
What is the salary range for this position?
The starting salary ranges from USD 129,076 to 161,345 per year for the lead level, and USD 148,437 to 185,547 per year for the principal level.
What is the remote work policy for this job?
The job posting indicates that the position is remote.
How many years of experience are required for the Principal Software Engineer level?
The principal level requires 12 or more years of experience in designing, building, and operating large-scale distributed systems.
Does ITHAKA offer visa sponsorship for this role?
The posting states that ITHAKA is not currently considering candidates who require any type of immigration sponsorship to work in the United States.
Sample Interview Questions
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