Principal Engineering Lead, Platform

Santa Clara, CA

Forward Networks is transforming how the world’s most complex networks are managed and secured. Founded in 2013 by four Stanford Ph.D.s, we built the industry’s first network digital twin — a mathematically precise model of the production network that gives IT teams unmatched visibility, verification, and agility across every major cloud and vendor environment.

Our customers include global leaders such as Goldman Sachs, PayPal, S&P Global, IBM, and Dell, as well as fast-growing enterprises and government agencies. According to IDC, Forward Networks customers realize an average of $14.2 million in annual benefits through improved efficiency and security.

Backed by world-class investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Goldman Sachs, MSD Partners, and Threshold Ventures, Forward Networks offers a people-centric, innovative culture where brilliant minds are shaping the future of network reliability, security, and AI-ready operations.

Forward Networks is currently seeking a talented Principal Engineering Lead to lead our Platforms team across two geographic regions (US and India). You will oversee the development and operations of a scalable, reliable and high performing platform. As a hands-on leader, you will work closely with cross-functional teams to ensure that platform initiatives are executed smoothly and align with broader organizational goals.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Lead and Mentor the Platform Team: Manage, mentor, and inspire a team of skilled backend engineers. Foster growth, promote engineering best practices, and create a collaborative and innovative work environment.
  • Feature Development: Lead the team in designing and developing features that power our platform. Design and implement storage systems, job scheduling systems, data ingestion frameworks, monitoring frameworks etc to ensure high system performance and availability.
  • Collaborate with Cross-Functional Teams: Work closely with cross functional teams, including product management and other stakeholders to define, scope, and prioritize new features.
  • Code Reviews and Technical Excellence: Review code, design documents, and technical proposals, ensuring that the team consistently produces high-quality, maintainable code. Offer constructive feedback to foster a culture of technical excellence.

Operational Excellence: Monitor platform performance and establish practices for reliability, scalability, and incident response.

  • Project Management: Oversee project planning and execution. Balance hands-on development with team management duties to ensure that both personal contributions and team deliverables are completed on time and meet quality standards.
  • Hands-On Development: Contribute directly to the design and development of key backend systems. This includes driving platform architectural changes, designing new frameworks, writing clean and maintainable code, and addressing complex technical challenges within a Java/Spring codebase.

Requirements:

  • Education: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field; Masters or Ph.D. preferred.
  • 10+ years in Software Engineering: Extensive experience in full lifecycle software development, including hands-on backend development with large-scale applications.
  • 3+ years in a hands on leadership role managing engineering teams
  • Expertise in Java: Deep expertise in Java (version 17 or later) and hands-on experience with Spring or other similar frameworks. Proven ability to design, build, and maintain complex backend systems.
  • Strong technical expertise in containerization (Docker, Kubernetes), cloud-native technologies (AWS, Azure, GCP), and microservices architecture.
  • Object-Oriented Design & Testing: Expertise in object-oriented programming, design patterns, and writing testable, maintainable code. Strong focus on code quality and automated testing.
  • Communication & Stakeholder Management: Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to clearly articulate technical concepts and engage with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

NOTE: experience in the networking domain is NOT a requirement for this role but is a plus.

This position is a regular, full-time opportunity with Forward Networks in Santa Clara, CA.

The base pay range for this role is between $220,000 and $275,000. Base pay will depend on your skills, qualifications, experience, and location

 

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