Principal Software Development Engineer

Expedia Group

$231K — $369K *
Information Technology
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 10+ years in software engineering with 4+ years managing architecture for high-scale systems
  • Experience with fraud/risk systems that demonstrate measurable impact on losses and false positives
  • Hands-on production ML experience including supervised learning and anomaly detection
  • Expertise in cloud-native engineering (AWS, GCP, or Azure) with a focus on event-driven and data processing
  • Strong coding background in Java/Scala/Go/Python; familiarity with microservices and infrastructure-as-code
  • Knowledge of security, privacy, and regulatory requirements for risk decisioning
  • Proven ability to communicate effectively with executive leadership.

Responsibilities

  • Own the complete architecture for low-latency risk decisioning and automated remediation
  • Build, deploy, and maintain machine learning models in production
  • Modernize platform components such as streaming data pipelines and microservices
  • Evaluate build versus buy strategies and assess vendor solutions
  • Define service level objectives and ensure compliance with security standards
  • Mentor senior engineers and coordinate cross-functional teams on project outcomes
  • Communicate strategic decisions to executives and document engineering processes.

Benefits

  • Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage
  • Generous paid time off and parental leave
  • Flexible work model with modern office environments
  • Wellness and travel reimbursement programs
  • Travel discounts and an IATAN membership for travel perks
  • Access to career development resources and support for employee growth.
Full Job Description
Introduction to the Team:

Our Technology Team partners with teams across Expedia Group to create innovative products, services, and tools to deliver high-quality experiences for travelers, partners, and our employees. A singular technology platform powered by data and machine learning provides secure, differentiated, and personalized experiences that drive loyalty and traveler satisfaction.

At Expedia Group Fraud & Risk (EFR), we are the guardians of marketplace trust. We protect EG from financial loss and brand damage, securing every channel for our customers, partners, suppliers, and employees. Our world class engineering and machine learning turn massive, noisy signals into real time decisions that minimize risk while keeping traveler friction low.

What makes this work unique: in travel, risk doesn't stop at checkout, it spans the entire journey. The global ecosystem is vast and fragmented, control points are scarce, and every leg introduces new unknowns. Our mission is bold: deliver a fully trusted journey from purchase to safe return home. That's hard and exactly why science and technology matter most.

If you're energized by complex, high impact problems with no obvious answers, and want to shape the future of risk with AI on a global scale, join us. Let's redefine how the world travels, safely, confidently, and at speed.

Lead the architecture and delivery of real-time, AI-powered fraud and abuse defenses on a global scale. You will design cloud-native decisioning and automated remediation systems, simplify our platform, and align cross-functional teams to measurable outcomes.

In this role, you will:

  • Own end-to-end architecture for low-latency risk decisioning (signals + rules + models) and automated remediation


  • Build, deploy, and operate ML in production; partner closely with DS/ML on features, experimentation, and monitoring


  • Simplify and modernize the platform (streaming/data pipelines, microservices, CI/CD, configuration-driven controls) to speed safe iteration


  • Drive build-vs-buy evaluations and benchmark vendors against in-house solutions for performance, cost, and risk posture


  • Establish clear SLOs, observability, and safety/rollback mechanisms; ensure security, privacy, and compliance are built in


  • Mentor senior engineers and align Product, Ops, Security, and Compliance on roadmap and outcomes


  • Communicate clearly with executives and engineering: distill strategy, make tradeoffs explicit, and document decisions.


Minimum Qualifications:

  • 10+ years of software engineering, including 4+ years leading architecture for real-time, high-scale systems


  • Proven experience building and operating fraud/risk systems in production (e.g., booking, payments/chargebacks, ATO, content/supplier integrity), with measurable impact on losses, false positives, and manual effort


  • Production ML experience (supervised/anomaly detection, feature pipelines, online inference, monitoring/retraining); ability to ship with DS/ML partners


  • Cloud-native engineering at scale (AWS, GCP, or Azure): event-driven services, data/stream processing, observability, cost and reliability best practices


  • Strong coding skills in one or more of Java/Scala/Go/Python; microservices, APIs, and infrastructure-as-code


  • Security, privacy, and regulatory fundamentals for sensitive data and risk decisioning


  • Experience with executive communication: can brief executives, translate strategy into actionable engineering plans, and align teams


Preferred Qualifications:

  • LLM/agentic techniques applied to fraud (e.g., investigation assist, pattern discovery, automated playbooks) and retrieval over enterprise data


  • Graph/sequence modeling or entity resolution at scale; device and behavioral signals


  • Track record reducing manual operations via automation and platform simplification


  • Hands-on with experimentation platforms and real-time rules/model simulation/back testing


  • Deep cloud cost/performance tuning and capacity planning


  • Marketplace, travel, or e-commerce experience


The total cash range for this position in Seattle is $231,000.00 to $323,500.00. Employees in this role have the potential to increase their pay up to $369,500.00, which is the top of the range, based on ongoing, demonstrated, and sustained performance in the role.

Starting pay for this role will vary based on multiple factors, including location, available budget, and an individual's knowledge, skills, and experience. Pay ranges may be modified in the future.

Benefits and perks

Expedia Group offers benefits and perks designed to support employees and their families, including medical, dental, and vision coverage, paid time off, an Employee Assistance Program, wellness and travel reimbursement, travel discounts, and International Airlines Travel Agent Network (IATAN) membership. Learn more about life at Expedia Group at https://careers.expediggroup.com/life.

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