Principal Software Engineer - Westchester, IL

Follett Corporation
$40,000.00 - $267,380.00 / yr
paid time off, paid holidays, 401(k)
United States, Illinois, Westchester
Oct 27, 2026
Back Principal Software Engineer #26-30625 Westchester, Illinois, United States Apply X Facebook LinkedIn Email Copy Job Category Information Technology Full-Time/Part-Time Full-time Job Description Position Overview Follett Higher Education is a leading educational service provider and omnichannel retailer that provides students, faculty and staff, parents, and fans with the course materials, learning tools, and retail services needed to successfully support the collegiate journey. Follett Higher Education supports over 6 million students through its 1,100 physical and 1,750 eCommerce campus stores across North America. The Principal Software Engineer is the senior-most individual contributor in engineering. This is a hands-on role: the Principal designs, builds, and ships production software for the most complex and highest-risk work, while setting technical direction and architecture across all engineering teams. The Principal raises the bar for engineering excellence through example - reference implementations, code and design reviews, and mentorship - and partners with engineering and product leadership to align technical strategy with business goals. Responsibilities Hands-on Delivery & Technical Execution: Design, build, and ship production code for the most complex, high-risk, or cross-team work on the product roadmap. Own technical outcomes across engineering, from design through production. Build reference implementations, prototypes, and proofs of concept that establish patterns adopted across engineering. Lead code and design reviews on high-impact changes, focusing on design and long-term maintainability. Lead response to critical production incidents through resolution and root-cause fix. Architecture & Technical Direction: Define and evolve the engineering-wide target architecture and technical roadmap, balancing scalability, cost, and maintainability against delivery constraints. Set multi-year technical direction and sequence the initiatives to reach it; identify cross-team risks and dependencies early. Make and document build-vs-buy, platform, and technical-debt investment recommendations through written design proposals. Modernization & Engineering Excellence: Personally drive cloud-native adoption on AWS, legacy system transformation, and platform standardization. Raise engineering standards across teams: CI/CD, observability, automated testing, and automation. Technical Leadership, Mentorship, & Stakeholder Alignment: Mentor senior engineers and technical leads across engineering through pairing, code review, and design feedback; develop the next generation of technical leaders. Partner with Directors of Engineering on technical strategy, priorities, and sequencing. Advise the VP of Engineering, product, and business leadership on technical strategy, trade-offs, and risk in business terms. Serve as the senior technical escalation point across engineering, resolving technical disagreements between teams. Requirements Bachelor's degree or equivalent in a related discipline. 10+ years of experience in software engineering. Recent, sustained hands-on development of production systems; continues to write and ship code as a core part of the role. Deep expertise in AWS, Python, and JavaScript/TypeScript; working proficiency in C#. Experience with relational databases (PostgreSQL, MSSQL). Proven track record of designing and delivering large-scale, distributed systems. Experience setting technical direction and architecture across multiple teams or an engineering organization. Experience leading legacy modernization and cloud-native migration. Excellent problem-solving skills with a focus on pragmatic, high-impact solutions. Strong communication skills, with the ability to convey complex technical concepts to technical and non-technical stakeholders, including executives. Job Details Pay Range Pay Range The estimated pay range for this job. Disclosing pay information promotes competitive and equitable pay. The actual pay rate will depend on the person's qualifications and experience. $40,000.00 - $267,380.00 / year Pay Transparency The annual salary/hourly rate range has been established based on the role, experience, skill set, and location. The exact starting salary/hourly rate within the range will depend on the role and the local market. This position may be eligible to participate in one of the Company's incentive plans. The amount of any incentive payment varies and is subject to the terms and conditions of the applicable incentive plan. We offer a comprehensive benefits package which includes medical, dental, vision, disability, wellness programs, 401(k) plan, flex spending, paid holidays, and paid time off. Eligibility for benefits is governed by the applicable policies and plan documents.