Principal Engineer

About Locus

Battle-tested in 350+ deployments across 30+ countries, Locus is an agentic Transportation Management System for all-mile, all-channel, trusted by enterprises like Unilever, Nestlé, and Siam Makro.

The platform unifies orders, capacity, and carrier networks into one living plan, aligning planning, execution, and settlement so promises become proof. AI co-pilots with guardrails surface risk early and recommend the next best move to protect SLAs and reduce empty miles.

In 2025, Locus joined the Ingka Group (IKEA Retail) family, marking a major milestone in our journey. Backed by the scale and strength of IKEA, we continue to operate independently while accelerating our mission to make global supply chains faster, smarter, and more sustainable.

Our Journey and Impact

Since 2015, Locus has been on a mission to make logistics decision-making intelligent, sustainable, and real-world ready. Our platform has powered billions of deliveries across 30 + countries for global enterprises, driving measurable impact in cost savings, carbon reduction, and SLA performance. With the strength of the IKEA ecosystem behind us, we’re scaling that impact even further.

Our Global Footprint

Headquartered in Bangalore, with teams across the U.S., U.K., UAE, and Southeast Asia, Locus brings together 170 + engineers, designers, and problem-solvers united by a single goal: to reinvent how the world moves goods.

Traits We Value

We look for people who are:

• Global in mindset: curious about diverse markets and ideas.

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  Unrelenting in drive: energized by complex challenges.
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  Intelligent in approach: analytical, creative, and thoughtful.
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  Dynamic in execution: adaptive and decisive in fast-moving contexts.

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  Exact in craft: detail-oriented and committed to excellence.

About the Role

As a Principal Engineer at Locus, you will be among the most senior technical leaders responsible for driving the architecture, scalability, and reliability of mission-critical systems that power our global logistics platform.
You’ll partner closely with engineering leadership to shape the technical vision, influence system design across teams, and ensure Locus continues to build technology that scales seamlessly as we grow across markets. This role is both strategic and hands-on — ideal for someone who can combine deep technical expertise with strong mentoring and architectural leadership.

What You’ll Do

• Own the architecture, design, and delivery of multiple large-scale distributed systems that form the backbone of Locus’s products.

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  Lead by example — write high-quality code, review designs, and set technical standards for engineering excellence.
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  Mentor and coach engineers across levels through design reviews, code reviews, and architectural guidance, helping them grow as strong technical contributors.
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  Collaborate across engineering, product, and data teams to identify and resolve complex technical dependencies and ensure cohesive system evolution.
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  Drive performance, scalability, and reliability improvements, setting benchmarks for operational excellence.
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  Be hands-on and deeply curious — dive into system internals, investigate bottlenecks, and lead from the front when technical depth is required.
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  Stay current with emerging technologies and evaluate their potential for adoption in Locus’s ecosystem.
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  Contribute to technical hiring by identifying and attracting top-tier engineering talent.

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  Represent Locus in internal and external forums, sharing engineering best practices and technical innovations.

What We Need

• 10+ years of experience building and scaling products in fast-paced, high-growth environments.

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  Strong Computer Science fundamentals — data structures, algorithms, and system design.
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  Proven track record in architecting and delivering distributed systems, microservices, and high-performance cloud-scale applications.
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  Deep expertise in Java, Spring/Spring Boot, and microservices architecture.
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  Solid understanding of concurrency, multithreading, and fault-tolerant system design.
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  Experience working in cloud environments (AWS/GCP) with modern CI/CD and observability tooling.
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  Passion for writing clean, maintainable code, and conducting detailed code and design reviews.
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  Familiarity with modern AI-assisted development tools (e.g., Cursor or similar) to accelerate development workflows.
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  Prior experience in SaaS product development and startup environments is a strong plus.
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  Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills; able to align teams around a shared technical vision.

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  Self-starter with a can-do attitude, who thrives on solving complex problems at scale.