Principal Engineer, Instructure
Dynamic learning management platform
Be an early applicant
Dynamic learning management platform
1001+ employees
Be an early applicant
1001+ employees
Company mission
To help learners thrive in tomorrow's landscape by delivering a future-ready ecosystem.
Role
Who you are
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field (or equivalent practical experience)
- 10+ years of progressive software development experience, including 3+ years in a lead or principal engineering role
- Deep expertise in designing, building, and scaling complex, highly available, distributed systems
- Proficiency in multiple programming languages (such as Ruby, Python, Java, JavaScript, Go) and familiarity with modern web frameworks
- Extensive experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and containerization technologies (Docker, Kubernetes)
- Robust understanding of database systems (relational and NoSQL) and data modeling principles
- Demonstrated ability to drive technical initiatives from conception to deployment and maintenance
- Excellent communication, interpersonal, and presentation skills; capable of clearly articulating complex technical concepts to diverse audiences
- Proven track record of mentoring/coaching engineers and building collaborative team environments
- Experience with Agile methodologies and DevOps practices
What the job involves
- As a Principal Engineer at Instructure, Inc., you will serve as a technical leader and pivotal contributor in the design, development, and delivery of our developer portal and PaaS products
- You'll drive complex architectural decisions, mentor engineering teams, and champion the scalability, reliability, and performance of our platforms, directly impacting the Instructure developer experience and global learning outcomes
- Lead architectural design and technical direction for PaaS features, services, and platform components, ensuring strategic and technical alignment
- Drive the development of complex software, producing high-quality, maintainable, and well-tested code across multiple technologies and platforms
- Provide technical leadership and mentorship to multiple engineering teams, fostering best practices in software development, code quality, and system architecture
- Collaborate closely with engineering managers, SRE, and stakeholders to gather requirements, translate them into technical specifications, and deliver innovative solutions
- Evaluate and implement new technologies, tools, and methodologies to enhance development processes and product capabilities
- Conduct thorough code reviews, offering constructive feedback and ensuring adherence to coding standards and architectural principles
- Troubleshoot and resolve complex technical issues, including root cause analysis and implementing preventative measures
- Serve as a subject matter expert in relevant technical domains, sharing knowledge and expertise across the organization
- Contribute to the continuous improvement of engineering processes, tools, and infrastructure
Our take
Instructure is an education technology company, creator of the Canvas Learning Management Platform that allows schools to build digital learning environments that meet the needs of their institutions. The platform simplifies teaching, elevates learning, and eliminates the headaches of supporting and growing traditional learning technologies.
The Canvas platform has grown to become a key part of a large number of educational institutions, from pre-school to higher education. Meanwhile, the company has gone international and hit the $1 billion market cap, made a number of acquisitions and invested in R&D. In fact, much of Instructure's workforce is dedicated to R&D, which shows their focus on innovating.
Instructure was itself acquired in 2024 by KKR, which supports a broad-based equity ownership program for Instructure employees. With KKR's record of acquired companies, this is a promising development. And, as the company centres a future-oriented vision and brand strategy, it will be interesting to see what it does next.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
3% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (2 rounds)
Jun 2016
$4m
SERIES A
Aug 2015
$1.5m
CONVERTIBLE
Total funding: $5.5m
Company benefits
- Join a passionate community of educators and the people working to support them
- Access to a large course library, mentoring and coaching opportunities, and regular feedback
- Community engagement (partnerships, volunteering, free learning resources, and ongoing outreach efforts)
- Office culture that values outcomes and impact above all
- Equity and ownership programs give every employee a stake in our future
- Ownership, recognition, and celebrations of shared success
- Growth opportunities (we’re all about helping our people move into (and thrive in) new roles)
Company HQ
Cottonwood Heights, UT
Leadership
Steve Daly
(CEO)They have a BS in Mechanical Engineering and a MBA in Strategy and Finance with more than 20 years experience in hardware and software industries.
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