Hi Marley

Principal Software Engineer

Hi Marley$114K — $267K *
Information Technology
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 10+ years of software development experience preferred; high-performing candidates with less are welcome.
  • Proven track record of delivering complex systems at scale and influencing technical direction.
  • Expertise in designing distributed architectures, particularly in the AWS ecosystem.
  • Strong fluency in modern AI-assisted development practices and systems integration.
  • Sound judgment in building AI products within regulated environments.
  • Experience with relational and document-oriented databases, performance tuning and scaling.
  • Proficiency in Node.js, TypeScript, React, automated testing, CI/CD, and modern code management.

Responsibilities

  • Set technical direction and define architecture across multiple systems.
  • Flexibly move between hands-on work with teams and horizontally influence initiatives.
  • Lead complex end-to-end initiatives, ensuring reliability, scale, and security.
  • Utilize modern AI development tools for designing and delivering high-quality systems.
  • Establish practices for safe AI adoption and quality improvement.
  • Mentor engineers, raising the standard for quality and design.
  • Act as a trusted advisor and technical leader across the organization.

Benefits

  • Equity grants for all employees
  • 4% matching 401(k) program
  • Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance coverage for eligible employees
  • Monthly wellness stipend
  • Paid parental leave
  • Flexible vacation policy
Full Job Description
We9re looking for a Principal Software Engineer, a person trusted with our hardest, highest-leverage technical problems. This is a dual-mandate role: you are both a multiplier for the team who raises the ceiling for engineers across the org, and a high-leverage builder who still Ships.

You9ll go wherever the most important work is, from complex re-architectures of existing systems, to building ambitious new capabilities, to strengthening the foundations the whole team builds on. A lot of that is AI right now: the agent-driven experiences at the core of what we build, in a regulated insurance environment where carrier trust and compliance shape every decision. Teamwork and shared enthusiasm are a core part of our culture, which is why this role involves joining us in the Boston office 2-3 days each week.

What You9ll Do:
  • Set technical direction across domains. Define the patterns and architecture for multiple systems, make high-stakes trade-off decisions, and communicate them clearly to engineers, product, and executives.
  • Work at the right altitude. Move flexibly between embedding deeply with a single team when an initiative needs your hands and operating horizontally across teams to set direction and unblock, exercising judgment and advocating for what the moment calls for.
  • Technically lead complex initiatives end-to-end. Drive multi-team, long-horizon work from architecture through delivery and operational excellence, owning reliability, scale, and security of mission-critical systems.Ship as a high-leverage producer. Use modern AI development tools (e.g., Claude Code,
  • Cursor, Codex) to design, prototype, and deliver real systems yourself - modeling how to build with AI at a high bar for quality, testing, and rigor. 9
  • Raise the bar on how we build with AI. Help engineer the practices, guardrails, and review discipline of our AI-enabled development lifecycle - so we can scale AI adoption safely, with quality improving as we go, as a regulated environment demands.
  • Multiply the team. Mentor and coach engineers, set the standard for quality and design, and help the people around you get better at their craft.
  • Be a trusted advisor. Serve as a go-to technical voice across engineering, and a steady, consensus-building presence when teams are stuck or the path isn9t clear.
  • Represent Hi Marley. Be recognized as a technical leader internally and externally, and help attract and grow great engineers.

What We9re Looking For:
  • Typically 10+ years of software development experience; high-performing candidates with less experience are encouraged to apply.
  • A track record of delivering large, complex systems to production at scale - defining the patterns and architecture for one or more domains, influencing technical direction across teams, and earning trust as an advisor across engineering. You identify the problems worth solving and shape and execute the work.
  • Experience designing distributed architectures, ideally in the AWS ecosystem, with a strong command of principles like separation of concerns, scalability, loose coupling, and designing for failure.
  • Fluency with modern AI-assisted development and with designing systems where AI and agents are first-class architectural components - not just a tool user, but someone who reasons about agent design, orchestration, configurability, and guardrails, and who rigorously reviews and verifies AI-generated work to keep the quality bar high.
  • Sound judgment about building AI products responsibly in a high-trust, regulated environment, where speed is bounded by carrier trust and compliance.
  • Experience with relational and document-oriented databases, including performance tuning and scaling.
  • Proficiency in Node.js, TypeScript, and frontend frameworks such as React; fluency with automated testing, CI/CD, and modern code-management practices.
  • A multiplier effect on those around you - the engineers and systems near you get measurably better because of how you work and mentor.
  • The ability to influence without authority, build consensus, and communicate complex issues simply to any audience - from engineers to executives.
  • A passion for clean code and sound design, pragmatic decision-making, and continually improving both the code and the way we work.
  • At this time, we are only able to consider candidates who are currently authorized to work in the U.S. and will not require sponsorship now or in the future.

Compensation, Benefits & Perks:
At Hi Marley, we are committed to fair and transparent pay practices. The annual base salary for this role is expected to fall within the range of [$114,200-$267,800], depending on experience, skills, qualifications, and location. Offers are determined based on these factors as well as internal peer equity. It9s most common for new hires to start near the midpoint of the range, allowing room for growth as employees develop in their role.

In addition to base pay, we offer a comprehensive total rewards package that supports both your wellbeing and professional growth, including:
  • Equity grants for all employees
  • A 4% matching 401(k) program
  • Medical, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance coverage for employees working 30+ hours per week
  • Monthly wellness stipend
  • Paid parental leave
  • A flexible vacation policy - we all work hard and take time when we need it

About Hi Marley

The Avedis Zildjian Company, simply known as Zildjian, is a musical instrument manufacturer specializing in cymbals and other percussion instruments. Founded by the ethnic Armenian Zildjian family in the 17th-century Ottoman Empire, the company relocated to the United States in the 20th century. Today, it is the largest cymbal and drumstick maker in the world. The company was founded in Constantinople in 1623 by Avedis Zildjian, an Armenian. Zildjian is now based in Norwell, Massachusetts. Zildjian is the oldest manufacturer of musical instruments in the world as well as one of the oldest continuously operating companies in the World. Zildjian sells cymbals, drumsticks, percussion mallets and other drum accessories under the Zildjian, Vic Firth and Balter Mallet brands.
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