Principal Software Engineer, Sovrn
$200-240k
+ Bonus & Equity
More information about location
Advertising tools & services for content creators
Open for applications
Advertising tools & services for content creators
101-200 employees
Open for applications
$200-240k
+ Bonus & Equity
More information about location
101-200 employees
Company mission
To empower independent content creators and publishers to grow their businesses and achieve the attention they deserve.
Role
Who you are
- We're looking for a Principal Software Engineer with deep roots in adtech infrastructure and a genuine conviction about what AI-native engineering looks like in practice
- 10+ years of software engineering experience, with a strong backend track record
- 5+ years working specifically in adtech infrastructure — SSP, DSP, exchange, or ad server environments
- Deep fluency in the programmatic ecosystem: OpenRTB, bid request/response flows, auction mechanics, supply path optimization, or similar
- Experience building and operating systems at exchange scale — high QPS, strict latency budgets, fault tolerance
- Demonstrated experience leading AI or agentic engineering efforts in production environments — not just experimentation, but shipped, operated, and iterated on
- Hands-on experience with LLM integration patterns: RAG, tool use, multi-step agentic workflows, prompt engineering, and evaluation frameworks
- Strong distributed systems fundamentals: messaging, caching, service architecture, observability
- Comfort driving technical decisions in ambiguous, fast-moving environments
- A point of view on where AI is and isn't the right tool — and the credibility to make that case
- We understand that no candidate is perfectly qualified for any job. Experience comes in different forms; many skills are transferable; and passion goes a long way. Even more important than your resume is a clear demonstration of accountability and the ability to thrive in a fluid and collaborative environment. We expect you to learn new things in this role and encourage you to apply if your experience is close to what we’re looking for
What the job involves
- This role is backend-focused at its core — you'll work on the systems that power our exchange, from bid request processing and traffic shaping to data pipelines and auction logic. But we're also at an inflection point in how we build software, and we want this person to help lead us through it
- From a generative/agentic AI capabilities standpoint, we already use LLMs and agentic tooling across our data stack and, we’re looking for is someone who can help us take that from general adoption to intentional practice — who has strong opinions about where AI creates real leverage in a high-throughput adtech environment, and who can bring the rest of the engineering organization along with them
- Languages/components/tools in our stack: Java, Kafka (Redpanda), AWS, Databricks, Datadog, ONYX
- Own the design and evolution of backend systems that operate at exchange scale — high throughput, low latency, always on
- Lead architectural decisions across auction infrastructure, bid processing, traffic shaping, and supply-side integrations
- Establish and champion AI engineering practices across the team — from prompt engineering and RAG patterns to agentic workflow design and LLM evaluation
- Identify high-leverage opportunities to apply AI in our adtech stack: traffic scoring and filtering, bid shading, yield optimization, anomaly detection, and automated decisioning
- Set standards for how we evaluate, trust, and operate AI-powered systems in production — including observability, fallback behavior, and model governance
- Drive technical standards, design reviews, and engineering best practices across a senior team
- Partner with product, data science, and platform teams to ship end-to-end
- Help the broader engineering team build fluency and confidence with AI tooling, not just tolerance of it
- Mentor and level up engineers through code review, design collaboration, and hands-on guidance
Application process
- Applications will be accepted until July 1, 2026
Our take
The monetization of online content creation can be very lucrative but requires time, resources and expertise outside of writing. Passionate writers who focus on storytelling and creating inspiring content may waste valuable time attempting to develop their business, and hiring somebody to do this is often too expensive for independent writers.
Sovrn tackles this in a smart way by providing writers with simple-to-use tools that take the stress out of monetization. It works with publishers and advertisers to provide opportunities to passionate writers, allowing them to focus on excelling at their job rather than dealing with distribution, monetization and operations - all of which Sovrn is able to handle.
The startup claims to be able to drive higher revenues and scale a publishing business, at the same time as allowing writers to focus on what they do best. It has seen significant investment that will enable it to pursue acquisitions and support the further expansion of its platform with more capabilities to be added in the future.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
-19% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 5 rounds)
Aug 2022
$35.6m
LATE VC
Jul 2022
$36m
SERIES C
Total funding: $132.6m
Company benefits
- Work at a company that values your strengths. See the results of your actions. There are no barriers at Sovrn
- First-class health benefits, wellness options, and a host of life-improvement perks that help you be the best you
- Retirement benefits, 401k matching, and stock options show we’re equally dedicated to financial health
- In-house barista, catered lunches and breakfasts
- Volunteer opportunities
- Flexible vacation and a focus on mental and physical health mean you’ll have time for life outside the office
- Learn new skills. Pursue great ideas. Take on new opportunities and thrive in a workplace that rewards your efforts
Company HQ
Boulder, CO
Leadership
Walter Knapp
(CEO)Having studied at the University of Colorado, they worked as a Partner at Cambridge Technology, and Novell Ventures for a combined 6 years. They worked as SuSE Linux at Novel, COO of Lijit Networks, and COO of Federated Media Publishing before leaving in January 2014 to found Sovrn.
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