Principal Platform Engineer $200,000 USD/year Pay is set based on global value, not the local market.
Most roles = hourly rate x 40 hrs x 50 weeks
Description
We are seeking Principal Platform Engineers to architect the infrastructure on which multiple development teams rely. In this role, your architectural patterns, API design choices, and technical documentation will determine how other teams build their solutions.
Platform products in scope include:
- TimeBack: Educational platform supporting Alpha School's 2-hour learning model (99th percentile test results)
- Incept: Content generation platform producing personalized educational content across multiple learning applications
- Crossover: AI-powered hiring platform handling tens of thousands of applicants monthly
- This position emphasizes design: 50% authoring specifications, API contracts, and technical decisions; 30% building complex platform capabilities; 20% code review and technical guidance. You hold technical authority over architecture. Once aligned with the team, your specifications become binding.
Lean team of accomplished engineers, full ownership, minimal process overhead. You architect it, you implement it, you maintain it.
What you will be doing
- Authoring detailed specifications prior to development
- Architecting APIs with extensibility and backward compatibility in mind
- Creating Important Technical Decision (ITD) documentation with supporting rationale
- Implementing sophisticated platform capabilities
- Conducting pull request reviews to ensure architectural alignment
What you will NOT be doing
- Extensive team leadership or personnel management
- Development of straightforward application-level products
- Participating in excessive meeting schedules
- Theoretical architecture work without hands-on implementation
Candidate requirements
- Minimum 5 years of professional software development experience
- Minimum 2 years architecting systems where other teams depended on your APIs or architectural decisions
- Demonstrated history of producing technical specifications or technical decisions that guided implementation by others
- Practical experience integrating AI tools into development workflows
Applying for a role? Here’s what to expect.
Crossover's skill assessment process combines innovative AI power with decades of human research, to take the guesswork, human bias, and pointless filters out of recruiting high-performing teams.
Chat-style
screening interview.
Cognitive 
aptitude test.
Prove real-world 
job skills.
Interview with the hiring manager.
Pass
proctored test.
Accept job offer.
Frequently asked questions
Reviews
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Recruitment sucks. So we’re fixing it.
The Olympics of work
It’s super hard to qualify—extreme quality standards ensure every single team member is at the top of their game.
Premium pay for premium talent
Over 50% of new hires double or triple their previous pay. Why? Because that’s what the best person in the world is worth.
Shortlist by skills, not bias
We don’t care where you went to school, what color your hair is, or whether we can pronounce your name. Just prove you’ve got the skills.
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AI-first remote workers.