Principal Software Engineer (AI focused)

At Zerocater, we believe food is one of the most effective ways to increase employee productivity. We build custom corporate catering and cafeteria solutions employees love while saving companies millions of dollars as they transition to the hybrid workplace. Our corporate catering and cafeteria products are powered by revolutionary technology that learns employees unique tastes and preferences to customize meals for every company we feed. We're building a once in a generation company that's disrupting the $186 billion dollar industry.

Come join an impactful Engineering team that works closely with our customers and Product to ship code every week. We value ownership, independence, collaboration, communication, and bias towards getting things done with measurable results.

Agentic development

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About the position:

As a Principal Engineer, you will be one of the most senior individual technical contributors. This role is not just about writing exceptional code; it's about bringing the grand AI vision to reality, and setting the long-term technical strategy that empowers all of engineering to build scalable, resilient, and innovative products.

You will be the go-to expert for our most complex and challenging technical issues and pioneer our Agentic AI strategy. You will operate across team boundaries, influencing our platform, standards, and technical culture to ensure Zerocater's systems remain a key competitive advantage.

What you will do:

• Agentic AI Strategy:

  Lead and drive the identification, prototyping, and integration of high-leverage Agentic AI (using tools like Langgraph) to build innovative user solutions.

• System Design for AI and Optimization:

  Design world-class, resilient, high-performance systems leveraging AI and related technologies like Vector DB, RAG, small LLM, etc.

• Architectural Ownership:

  Define and own long-term technical strategy and architectural roadmap for Zerocater's platform, ensuring our core Python/Django services and data models are built for high availability and scale.

• Cross-Functional Leadership:

  Serve as the technical owner for our most complex, cross-functional initiatives and be a Trusted Advisor to Engineering and Cross functional leaders.

• Mentorship & Technical Bar-Setting:

  Act as a force multiplier for the entire engineering organization. Mentor and level-up our Junior and Senior Engineers, lead by examples in design and code reviews, and create a Continuously Improving organization.

• Resilience & Observability:

  Architect our overall observability, traceability, and monitoring strategy (ELK, New Relic, etc.). You will be the final escalation point for our most critical incidents, responsible for architecting long-term, permanent solutions to root causes.

• Technical evaluations and Visionary leader:

  Bring futuristic vision to reality by rapid prototyping, writing the scaffolding code, proofs-of-concept and converting plans to products.

Qualifications for success:

• 8+ years of professional software engineering experience

  , with a clear accelerated progression to a Staff, Senior Staff, or Principal-level role.

• Expert-level mastery of Python and the Django ecosystem

  (including DRF). You are the person others come to with their toughest Python/Django questions.

• Demonstrable experience architecting, building, and operating complex, large-scale distributed systems and microservices.

• Deep expertise in SQL database design

  , data modeling, schema migration, and performance tuning for high-volume transactional systems.

• Proven track record of identifying and delivering high-impact products

  or features using modern AI tools and frameworks (e.g., Claude Code, Cursor, LLM APIs).

• Exceptional communication skills

  . You can articulate a complex technical vision to both junior engineers and C-level executives with clarity and conviction.

What we offer:

Not only will you have the opportunity to grow your career with other food-obsessed colleagues who have a shared passion for creating delight for customers, but you will also work alongside a highly collaborative team that values leading with trust and respect, and taking smart risks.

• Time away: 15 days PTO, 12 days sick leave, 10 paid holidays
• Health, Personal Accident, and Life Insurance
• Annual Health Check-up & Wellness Benefit
• Retirement Benefits
• Broadband Reimbursement
• Equity

To learn more about Zerocater:

• Checkout our Careers Page
• Learn about our newest product offering CaterAI
• Meet our Engineering & Country Head India: Rahul Sharma
• Watch videos on our Youtube channel

The shared meal elevates eating from a mechanical process of fueling the body to a ritual of family and community, from the mere animal biology to an act of culture.

- Michael Pollan

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please contact us at [HIDDEN TEXT].