Principal Engineer

Role Overview

Principal Engineer specializing in web development for a Design System at Autodesk. You will build and maintain the software implementation of the design system across Autodesk products, within the Platform organization of the Product Design and Manufacturing Solutions (PDMS) division. The role is hybrid and reports to a Senior Software Development Manager based in Portland, Oregon.

Responsibilities

• Act as a hands-on Principal Engineer (~70% coding / 30% enablement) on a Scrum team.
• Own complex front-end work end-to-end.
• Build, troubleshoot, test, and debug React UI components in a production codebase.
• Make and drive technical decisions; write high-quality design/technical docs; participate in design reviews.
• Enforce engineering and architectural standards; raise risks early and propose changes with architects.
• Conduct strong code reviews with a consistent bar for correctness, security, performance, and maintainability.
• Advocate for and teach AI-assisted development best practices using Claude Console (preferred) or Cursor.
• Create/maintain team playbooks for:
  • brownfield refactors
  • test generation
  • debugging
  • spec-writing
  • accessibility checks
• Define "done" criteria and quality gates for AI-generated code (tests, review checklist, verification steps, safe-usage guidelines).
• Partner cross-functionally (QA, design, product) across time zones; participate in Agile ceremonies.
• Engage with customers on complex issues and convert learnings into durable improvements (fixes, guardrails, docs).

Minimum Qualifications

• 8+ years of professional web development with proven delivery in commercial applications.
• Expert React with modern JavaScript/TypeScript; strong CSS and MUI component styling experience.
• Strong debugging skills (e.g., Chrome DevTools, React DevTools, plus MCP).
• Strong Git workflow and collaborative PR practices.
• Testing competence:
  • Unit testing with Jest
  • Functional/visual/e2e testing with Playwright
• Proven experience building design systems/component libraries and scaling reuse.
• Solid fundamentals in responsive UI, accessibility, and performance for React.
• Hands-on proficiency with AI assistants (Claude Console preferred; Cursor acceptable), using AI without sacrificing quality.
• Experience using AI in brownfield refactors, test generation, debugging, spec-writing, and accessibility checks.
• Experience leading spec-driven workflows enabling reliable human + AI implementation.
• Ability to mentor/enable engineers to use AI effectively (training, pairing, playbooks, review coaching).
• Strong communication skills in written and verbal English.
• Bachelor’s degree (or higher) in computer science or related technical field.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience building and evolving design systems/UI component libraries in large, multi-team environments.
• High-output senior engineer maintaining production quality while moving fast (secure-by-default, stable, compliant, observable, maintainable).