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About This Role
Title: Principal Software Engineer
Function: Engineering
Reports to: Manager, Software Development
Location: Remote - US - Working EST Hours
Position Summary
The Principal Software Engineer will play a critical role in designing, developing, and implementing high-quality software solutions. This position is responsible for the development of next-generation SaaS applications - including AI-powered and agentic experiences - as well as providing technical leadership for long-range investments and planning. The Principal Software Engineer has a passion for building maintainable, scalable, and beautiful applications, with heavy emphasis on optimizing user experience, solving problems, and delighting customers and business stakeholders. The Principal Software Engineer must be able to break down complex problems and design elegant, easy-to-maintain solutions that are resilient and robust. Additionally, this role provides technical leadership, mentorship, and guidance to the engineering team, while driving innovation in AI-powered and agentic development practices and ensuring established best practices are followed.
Critically, this role involves AI/ML integration including semantic search, RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) frameworks, vector database architectures, LLM operations, orchestration patterns, and AI tooling integration. We recognize that exceptional engineers may have depth in some areas and breadth in others - experience across these areas is strongly desired but not required. We value engineers who have experience learning and leading the adoption of emerging technologies.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead the design, development, and implementation of complex software systems and solutions including advanced AI-powered capabilities such as semantic search systems, vector databases, RAG-based architectures, and LLM orchestration patterns.
- Translate business requirements into a well-formed technical design and help bring that design to life with the team, in an iterative fashion.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to define project goals, scope, and timelines as well as translate business requirements into scalable and robust software designs.
- Mentor and coach team members, fostering their professional growth and promoting a culture of knowledge sharing and continuous learning.
- Write reusable code, build libraries for future use, conduct code reviews, ensure code quality, and enforce coding standards.
- Champion the adoption of AI-assisted development tools (e.g., Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Codex) to accelerate development velocity and code quality.
- Build "golden pathways" and developer experience tooling that scales engineering capability across the organization.
- Drive technical innovation and identify opportunities for process improvements and optimization.
- Champion architectural integrity alongside an iterative, gated delivery approach
- Stay up to date with emerging technologies and industry trends and evaluate their potential impact on our software solutions.
Skills and Experience Needed
- Bachelor's Degree in software engineering, computer science, information technology, or commensurate experience.
- 10+ years proven experience in SaaS development, primarily developing user-facing production features on a modern web stack.
- 5-7 years' experience developing web applications with C# and .NET Core.
- 5+ years' experience with RESTful design patterns and microservices architecture; including high-scale cloud mechanisms like event hubs, messaging systems, and data lakes.
- 1+ years' experience with AI-powered development tools (Claude, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, or similar) with demonstrated track record of leveraging AI assistants to accelerate development velocity and code quality.
- Experienced in one or more AI/ML areas: semantic search, vector databases, RAG frameworks, LLM orchestration, prompt engineering, or AI tooling development.
- Excellent troubleshooting skills with the ability to analyze and resolve difficult problems quickly.
- Experience working in a high transaction, high security environment where SOC2, ISO27001 compliance is required.
- Strong proficiency in CI/CD pipelines, git workflow, etc.; ideally in Azure DevOps.
- Mastery of agile development methodologies and DevOps practices.
- Demonstrated technical leadership experience in software development projects.
Competencies
- Accountability
- Adaptability
- Applied Learning
- Business Acumen
- Customer Focus
- Dealing w/Ambiguity
- Driving for Results
- Initiating Action
- Operational Decision Making
- Technical/Professional Skills and Knowledge
- AI Curiosity & Innovation
About the Company:
Boards set the standard for what organizations can achieve. At OnBoard, our board management software helps boards function at a higher level so every organization can make a bigger difference in the world.
Launched in 2011, today, OnBoard serves as the board intelligence platform for more than 5,000 organizations and their 12,000 boards and committees in 60 countries worldwide. With customers in higher education, nonprofit, healthcare systems, government, and enterprise business, OnBoard is the leading board management provider.
OnBoard has grown from a class project at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana in 2003 into the world's leading board management software platform today. Backed by JMI Equity and the acquisitions of eScribe and Govenda, OnBoard is positioned to become the industry leader in Board Management and Meeting Solutions for private and public sector entities.
Benefits and Perks:
- Fully remote work with company provided equipment (laptop, software, etc.)
- Employment with a growing, casual, fun, philanthropic minded company
- US Based Employees + Comprehensive, high-quality medical/prescription drug plan options, as well as dental and vision plan offerings. + An employer contribution to your Health Savings Account (HSA) if you participate in a High Deductible Healthcare Plan. + Medical Flexible Spending Accounts available. + Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts available. + Basic life insurance in the amount of $50,000 or 1 X's your salary (whichever is higher). + Short and long-term disability and Accidental Death and Dismemberment benefits at no cost to you. + 401K Retirement Savings Plan with automatic enrollment at the first of the month following 60 days of employment at 5% to help you secure your financial freedom. We offer a generous company match that starts on the first of the month following 60 days of employment. The company match is dollar for dollar on the first 3% of your pay that you contribute and $0.50 on the dollar on the next 2%, for a total match of 4%. + Paid Time Off (PTO)/Holiday
- CAN Based Employees
+ Employer paid Life and Accidental Death Insurance + Contribution to Health Care Spending Account + Dependent Life Insurance + Optional Life Insurance + LTD Insurance + Drug and Paramedical Coverage + Dental Insurance + Vision Insurance + EAP
- AUS Based employees + Superannuation rate of 12% + Monthly stipend of $400 AUD to purchase private medical insurance
- UK Based Employees (via EPG) + Pension - Aegon
- Passageways/OnBoard contributes 8% of the employee's basic salary
- Employees can contribute up to 100% of salary subject to max limits
- Enrolled from Day 1 of employment + Private Medical Insurance + Life Assurance + Income Protection + Critical Illness + Employee Assistance Programme + Serious Illness Benefit + Help@Hand + Cashplan
Diversity Statement - Culture of Togetherness:
At OnBoard, our mission is to encourage and celebrate a culture of togetherness. We acknowledge that uniqueness is powerful, and we welcome, foster, and appreciate all. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusiveness fuel the Pathfinder atmosphere and all our efforts. Our power is in our people and we Pledge 1% to give back to our communities and across the globe.
OnBoard is an equal opportunity employer and committed to a diverse and inclusive working environment. We do not discriminate based on race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age, or other legally protected status.
Interview Transparency & Technology Disclosure
We use video/audio recordings and artificial intelligence (AI) tools during our interview process to transcribe responses, evaluate skills, and streamline evaluations. Your data is processed securely and handled in line with our Privacy Policy and local data protection laws
Role Details
About This Role
AI Software Engineers build the applications and systems that AI models run inside. They own the API layers, data pipelines, frontend integrations, and infrastructure that turn a model into a product users interact with. Every AI company needs engineers who can build the software around the AI.
The challenge is building reliable systems around inherently unreliable components. Models are probabilistic. They'll give different answers to the same question. They hallucinate. They're slow. They're expensive. Your job is to build an application layer that handles all of this gracefully while delivering a product that users trust and enjoy.
Across the 9,079 AI roles we're tracking, AI Software Engineer positions make up 5% of the market. At OnBoard, this role fits into their broader AI and engineering organization.
AI Software Engineer roles are among the most numerous in the AI job market. Every company deploying AI needs software engineers who understand AI integration patterns. The demand is broad, spanning startups to enterprises, across every industry adopting AI capabilities.
What the Work Looks Like
A typical week includes: building API endpoints that serve model inference with caching and fallback logic, designing the data pipeline that feeds context to a RAG system, implementing streaming responses in the frontend, debugging a race condition in the async inference pipeline, and optimizing database queries for the vector search layer. It's full-stack engineering with AI at the center.
AI Software Engineer roles are among the most numerous in the AI job market. Every company deploying AI needs software engineers who understand AI integration patterns. The demand is broad, spanning startups to enterprises, across every industry adopting AI capabilities.
Skills Required
Full-stack engineering skills with AI integration experience. Python and TypeScript are the most common requirements. You'll need to understand API design, database architecture, and how to build reliable systems around probabilistic outputs. Experience with streaming, async processing, and caching patterns is increasingly important as real-time AI applications proliferate.
Knowledge of vector databases, embedding APIs, and LLM integration patterns (function calling, structured outputs, retry logic) differentiates AI software engineers from general software engineers. Understanding cost optimization (caching strategies, model routing, batched inference) is valuable since inference costs can dominate application economics.
Strong postings describe the product you'll be building, the AI integration patterns you'll work with, and the scale requirements. Look for companies that have existing AI features and need engineers to improve and expand them, not companies that are 'planning to add AI' someday.
Compensation Benchmarks
AI Software Engineer roles pay a median of $220,000 based on 1,601 positions with disclosed compensation. Senior-level AI roles across all categories have a median of $229,300.
Across all AI roles, the market median is $213,000. Top-quartile compensation starts at $263,911. The 90th percentile reaches $318,400. For comparison, the highest-paying categories include AI Safety ($256,000) and Research Engineer ($252,000). By seniority level: Entry: $111,000; Mid: $193,200; Senior: $229,300; Director: $272,300; VP: $235,830.
OnBoard AI Hiring
OnBoard has 1 open AI role right now. They're hiring across AI Software Engineer. Based in Sarasota, FL, US.
Location Context
Across all AI roles, 6% (531 positions) offer remote work, while 8,478 require on-site attendance. Top AI hiring metros: New York (3,078 roles, $221,000 median); San Francisco (2,646 roles, $261,000 median); Los Angeles (1,486 roles, $210,000 median).
Career Path
Common paths into AI Software Engineer roles include Software Engineer, Full-Stack Developer, Backend Engineer.
From here, career progression typically leads toward Staff Engineer, AI Architect, Engineering Manager.
If you're a software engineer, you're already 80% there. Learn the AI integration patterns: RAG, streaming inference, function calling, structured outputs. Build a project that demonstrates you can wrap an AI model in a production-quality application with proper error handling, caching, and user experience. That's the portfolio piece that gets you hired.
What to Expect in Interviews
Technical screens look like standard software engineering interviews with an AI twist. Expect system design questions about building reliable applications around probabilistic models: handling streaming responses, implementing retry logic for API failures, and designing caching strategies for LLM outputs. Coding rounds test standard algorithms plus practical integration patterns like async processing and rate limiting.
When evaluating opportunities: Strong postings describe the product you'll be building, the AI integration patterns you'll work with, and the scale requirements. Look for companies that have existing AI features and need engineers to improve and expand them, not companies that are 'planning to add AI' someday.
AI Hiring Overview
The AI job market has 9,079 open positions tracked in our dataset. By seniority: 106 entry-level, 4,384 mid-level, 3,343 senior, and 1,246 leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level). Remote roles make up 6% of the market (531 positions). The remaining 8,478 roles require on-site or hybrid attendance.
The market median for AI roles is $213,000. Top-quartile compensation starts at $263,911. The 90th percentile reaches $318,400. Highest-paying categories: AI Safety ($256,000 median, 66 roles); Research Engineer ($252,000 median, 457 roles); AI Engineering Manager ($251,622 median, 55 roles).
AI Software Engineer roles are among the most numerous in the AI job market. Every company deploying AI needs software engineers who understand AI integration patterns. The demand is broad, spanning startups to enterprises, across every industry adopting AI capabilities.
The AI Job Market Today
The AI job market spans 9,079 open positions across 16 role categories. The largest categories by volume: AI/ML Engineer (6,862), AI Product Manager (453), AI Software Engineer (451). These three account for the majority of open positions, though smaller categories often have higher per-role compensation because of specialized skill requirements.
The seniority mix tells a story about where AI teams are in their maturity. Entry-level roles (106) are outnumbered by mid-level (4,384) and senior (3,343) positions, reflecting that most companies are past the 'build a team from scratch' phase and need experienced engineers who can ship production systems. Leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level) total 1,246 positions, representing the bottleneck between technical execution and organizational strategy.
Remote work availability sits at 6% of all AI roles (531 positions), with 8,478 requiring on-site or hybrid attendance. The remote share has stabilized after the post-pandemic correction. Senior and specialized roles (Research Scientist, ML Architect) are more likely to be remote-eligible than entry-level positions, partly because experienced hires have more negotiating power and partly because these roles require less hands-on mentorship.
AI compensation is structured in clear tiers. The market median sits at $213,000. Top-quartile roles start at $263,911, and the 90th percentile reaches $318,400. These figures include base salary with disclosed compensation. Total compensation (including equity, bonuses, and sign-on) runs 20-40% higher at companies that offer those components.
Category matters for compensation. AI Safety roles lead at $256,000 median, while Prompt Engineer roles sit at $141,440. The spread between highest and lowest-paying categories reflects the premium on specialized technical skills versus broader analytical roles.
The most in-demand skills across all AI postings: Python (1,649 postings), Aws (898 postings), Azure (723 postings), Rag (671 postings), Gcp (536 postings), Pytorch (434 postings), Claude (410 postings), Kubernetes (406 postings). Python dominates, appearing in the vast majority of role descriptions regardless of category. Cloud platform experience (AWS, GCP, Azure) is the second most common requirement. The newer entrants to the top skills list (RAG, vector databases, LLM APIs) reflect the shift from traditional ML toward generative AI applications.
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