Principal Engineer (Platform Architecture , JetBrains Cloud Platform)

At JetBrains, we’re building an AI-native platform for software development that connects developer workflows, team-level collaboration, and organizational control into a single coherent system. This platform will serve as the execution and governance layer for AI-driven development, deeply integrated with developer tools but designed to work across teams, products, and environments. This is a long-term strategic investment for JetBrains and a key pillar of our vision for the future of software development.

The role

We are looking for a Software Architect (Platform Architecture) to shape the core technical foundations of JetBrains Cloud Platform from the ground up.

This role focuses on the architecture of shared platform capabilities: cross-product services, infrastructure abstractions, integration standards, scalability and reliability principles, and operational foundations (such as security, governance, observability, and cost controls). As this is a new platform, many standards and processes are still works in progress – you will actively influence what good quality looks like and help teams build toward it.

As part of the team, you will:

• Design and evolve the architecture of a cross-product platform that serves as the foundation for AI-driven software development.
• Define architectural principles, standards, and guidelines for platform services and shared foundations.
• Design integration patterns and interfaces between platform services, developer tools, and external systems.
• Ensure architectural decisions support scalability, reliability, security, and observability from the outset.
• Own and drive key platform-level architectural decisions and trade-offs (e.g., service boundaries, data flows, identity, policy, and tenancy).
• Review and validate architectural designs across teams to ensure consistency and long-term sustainability.
• Collaborate with other architects and platform specialists to align on shared decisions and evolve the platform architecture over time.
• Work closely with senior and staff engineers to translate platform requirements into coherent technical designs and implementation plans.

We are looking for someone who:

• Has strong experience in software engineering and system design, especially in complex, distributed systems.
• Has experience defining or significantly shaping the architecture of new platforms or large-scale systems.
• Is able to facilitate and align architectural decisions across multiple teams, balancing different perspectives and constraints.
• Is comfortable working in an environment where many processes and standards are still not fully established.
• Is motivated by long-term goals and prefers building foundations over delivering short-term features.

We’d be particularly thrilled if you:

• Have hands-on experience designing or evolving platforms based on Kubernetes and cloud environments such as AWS.
• Have experience with networking, compute, and storage infrastructure and can reason across application and infrastructure layers.
• Enjoy helping teams converge on good solutions rather than enforcing a single “correct” approach.