Principal Engineer

Company Description Conviction VC is an early-stage venture capital firm focused on partnering with exceptional founders building high-impact technology companies. The firm provides capital, strategic guidance, and hands-on support to help portfolio companies scale from idea to industry leadership. Conviction VC values rigorous engineering, thoughtful product design, and sustainable business models. Team members work in a highly collaborative, remote-first environment, engaging closely with founders and emerging technologies. Joining Conviction VC offers the opportunity to influence technical direction across multiple startups and contribute to long-term value creation.
Role Description The Principal Engineer is a full-time, remote role responsible for providing senior-level technical leadership across Conviction VC’s portfolio. On a day-to-day basis, this role collaborates with founders and engineering teams to review architectures, assess technical risk, and recommend scalable solutions. The Principal Engineer designs and evaluates system prototypes, conducts code and infrastructure reviews, and helps establish engineering best practices for security, reliability, and performance. This role may lead or contribute to internal tools and frameworks that support portfolio companies, while staying current with emerging technologies and industry standards. The Principal Engineer also mentors engineering leaders, contributes to technical due diligence during investments, and helps communicate complex technical concepts clearly to non-technical stakeholders.
Qualifications

• Strong background in software engineering, including system design, architecture, and implementation across modern technology stacks.
• Experience with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure), infrastructure-as-code, and designing scalable, reliable distributed systems.
• Proficiency in one or more programming languages commonly used in startups (such as Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, Go, Java, or similar).
• Demonstrated ability to conduct technical due diligence, assess security and performance risks, and provide actionable recommendations.
• Comfort working with product and business stakeholders, translating technical trade-offs into clear, practical guidance.
• History of mentoring engineers, setting engineering standards, and fostering inclusive, high-performing technical teams.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to work effectively in a fully remote, distributed environment.
• Bachelor’s or advanced degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Prior experience in startups, venture-backed companies, or technical advisory roles is strongly beneficial.