Role overviewCarGurus is looking for a Principal Software Development Engineer to help define and deliver the next generation of car recommendations for millions of shoppers. The Recommendations Team helps shoppers find the right cars by surfacing relevant vehicles, and helpful next steps across search, listings, saved cars, and AI-powered experiences.
In this role, you will provide technical leadership across the recommendation domain, from shopper understanding and preference signals to ranking, personalization, experimentation, reliability, and the product experiences that make recommendations useful and trustworthy. You will work closely with Data Science, Product, and other engineering teams to turn advances in machine learning and AI into intuitive consumer experiences that help shoppers find the right car faster. You'll shape architecture and technical strategy, write code, mentor engineers, and work closely with teams across CarGurus.
What you'll do- Set the technical direction for our recommendation platform and drive architecture across multiple teams.
- Build scalable recommendation systems using shopper, vehicle, inventory, and behavioral signals.
- Partner with Data Science to productionize models and continuously improve recommendation quality.
- Drive personalization, ranking, experimentation, and AI-powered recommendation experiences throughout the shopper journey.
- Lead complex, cross-functional initiatives from technical design through delivery and measurement.
- Improve the reliability, scalability, observability, and operational excellence of recommendation services.
- Influence technical decisions across the organization, mentor engineers, and raise the engineering bar through design and code reviews.
- Leverage AI-assisted development to accelerate delivery while maintaining high standards for quality, security, and reliability.
What you'll bring- 10+ years of software engineering experience building and operating large-scale, customer-facing systems.
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or similar field.
- Deep expertise in software architecture, distributed systems, APIs, and production engineering.
- Experience leading technical direction across teams and driving complex, multi-quarter initiatives.
- Strong experience with Kotlin, Java, C#, Python, or similar languages; Kotlin is preferred.
- Strong SQL and relational database experience, including performance considerations.
- Experience partnering with Data Science or ML teams to bring models into production.
- Excellent communication and influence skills, with a track record of aligning technical and cross-functional partners.
- Hands-on technical leadership, including coding, architecture, design reviews, and mentoring engineers.
- Curiosity about AI and experience using AI to improve products and engineering productivity.
- Experience building recommendation, personalization, search, ranking, marketplace, or discovery systems.
- Experience with machine learning platforms, real-time or batch feature pipelines, experimentation systems, model evaluation, or recommendation metrics.
- Experience building consumer products that help users compare options, make decisions, or navigate a complex purchase journey.
- Experience with cloud-native architectures, event-driven systems, streaming data, and high-volume services.
The displayed range represents the expected annual base salary / On-Target Earnings (OTE) for this position. On-Target Earnings (OTE) is inclusive of base salary and on-target commission earnings, which applies exclusively to sales roles.
Individual pay within this range is determined by work location and other factors such as job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.
This annual base salary forms part of a comprehensive Total Rewards Package. In addition to benefits, this role may qualify for discretionary bonuses/incentives and Restricted Stock Units (RSUs).
Position Pay Range
$170,000-$212,000 USD
CarGurus may require in-person interviews as part of our hiring process, particularly for positions based in our Boston and Dublin offices. Candidates selected for an in-person interview will be notified in advance. Please be aware that travel expenses are the responsibility of the candidate.
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