Principal Software Engineer

Our world is transforming, and PTC is leading the way. Our software brings the physical and digital worlds together, enabling companies to improve operations, create better products, and empower people in all aspects of their business.

Our people make all the difference in our success. Today, we are a global team of nearly 7,000 and our main objective is to create opportunities for our team members to explore, learn, and grow – all while seeing their ideas come to life and celebrating the differences that make us who we are and the work we do possible.

Principal Software Engineer

About the Role

We are seeking a highly experienced Principal Software Engineer to serve as a senior technical leader for PTC Perc, our real-time Java Virtual Machine and toolchain used in embedded, industrial, and defense applications. In this role, you will drive core product development, contribute to the product roadmap, support customers and evaluators, and play a key part in enabling future releases of Perc Ultra SMP (32bit) and Perc 64 (64bit)

This position is ideal for a hands-on engineer who enjoys building complex low-level systems, solving customer challenges, and influencing product direction.

Key Responsibilities

Product Development & Engineering

• Serve as a primary developer for Perc Ultra SMP (32‑bit) and Perc 64 (64‑bit) built on a common C/C++/Java codebase running on Linux for Intel and ARM processors.
• Plan and execute development tasks; troubleshoot issues and clear blockers.
• Implement bug fixes, feature enhancements, and major new release content.
• Develop and maintain regression tests for fixes and new functionality.
• Review, test, and approve code changes from team members before commit.
• Monitor nightly builds, analyze errors/warnings, and implement corrections.
• Build, test, and package releases; contribute to Release Notes and user documentation.
• Contribute to long‑term product roadmap planning, including tooling, Java version updates, and feature evolution.
• Collaborate with Developer Tools leadership to maintain and update licensing components.

Customer Support

• Work directly with customer engineering teams to diagnose issues, resolve technical questions, and advise on best practices for real‑time Java development.
• Ensure timely and high-quality case responses to ensure customer satisfaction and ARR retention.
• Create and maintain technical content, tutorials, and knowledge base articles.
• Support Perc evaluators during trials, coordinating with support teams as needed.

Pre‑Sales Engineering

• Partner with sales teams on active opportunities by joining customer calls, delivering product demonstrations, and responding to technical RFP/RFI questions.
• Represent Perc at key industry events (e.g., Embedded World, MOSA Summit) to support lead generation and gather market feedback.

Internal Tools & Infrastructure

• Assist in the remote management of internal R&D systems hosted in the San Diego Data Center, including:
  • Source code management
  • Bug/issue tracking systems
  • Nightly build and automation systems
  • Backup systems
• Support containerized DevOps infrastructure using custom Docker images.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field (advanced degree preferred).
• 10+ years of professional software development experience in embedded systems or tools.
• Strong background in end-to-end software development, product quality, and technical problem solving.
• Experience with development tools for industrial automation and/or defense applications.

Preferred Qualifications

Candidates with experience in several of the following areas will be strongly considered:

Languages & Core Technologies

• Java (required), C (required), and C++
• Linux application development
• gcc, linker, glibc, libstdc++
• Linux ELF object formats for x86/ARM (32/64‑bit)
• Familiarity with LLVM compiler infrastructure project
• Java language & JVM specification knowledge

Systems & Architecture

• x86 and ARM instruction sets and architectures
• Lock‑free concurrency (e.g., CAS operations)
• Real-time multithreaded programming using Linux real-time scheduling policies

Tools & Ecosystem

• Bash, Perl, GNU Make, Apache Ant
• Subversion, Docker, Apache Httpd
• Experience authoring documentation in Adobe FrameMaker
• Experience using TPM 2.0 hardware on Linux for secure boot and decryption
• Linux administration on Red Hat/Rocky Linux and Ubuntu

Why Join Us?

This is a high impact engineering role where you will influence core product architecture, collaborate with global teams, engage directly with advanced embedded-system customers, and shape the future of real-time Java technology.

PTC carefully considers a wide variety of factors when determining compensation. The anticipated annual salary range for this position is between $112,000 - 160,000. The salary range reflects a good-faith estimate of compensation at the time of posting. Actual compensation may vary based on a candidate's skills, qualifications, experience, and location. Additionally, candidates may be eligible for a performance-based bonus. Employees also have the opportunity to become a PTC shareholder through our employee share purchase program (ESPP), which allows for the purchase of discounted PTC stock. Certain roles may also be eligible for participation in our equity programs. Employees may be eligible for medical, dental and vision insurance, paid time off and sick leave, tuition reimbursement, 401(k) contributions and employer match, flexible spending accounts, life insurance, disability coverage and, if you are an office-assigned employee, a generous commuter subsidy. All total rewards and benefits programs are subject to applicable plan eligibility and other terms and conditions.
For more information about PTC’s comprehensive benefits, please visit our Careers Page.
Applications will be accepted on an on-going basis.

Life at PTC is about more than working with today’s most cutting-edge technologies to transform the physical world. It’s about showing up as you are and working alongside some of today’s most talented industry leaders to transform the world around you.

If you share our passion for problem-solving through innovation, you’ll likely become just as passionate about the PTC experience as we are. Are you ready to explore your next career move with us?

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