Principal Software Engineer

As a Principal Software Engineer at ABBYY, you will own the end-to-end development process of various features and services, ensuring high standards of quality and performance throughout. Your duties include designing, coding, testing, deploying, and providing support for technical solutions. You will also be responsible for collaborating with product teams to define features, conducting code reviews, and continuously seeking improvement within the codebase and development process.

To qualify for the Principal Software Engineer position at ABBYY, candidates should have between 6 to 9 years of professional experience in programming languages such as C#, .Net, and C++. Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, along with a proven commitment to writing clean, maintainable code following best practices like TDD and unit testing, are also essential.

ABBYY values work-life balance and provides flexible working options, allowing Principal Software Engineers to work remotely or in a hybrid setup. Additionally, our culture encourages flexible working hours and offers paid volunteering days off, so engineers can contribute to causes that matter to them. This support helps employees maintain a harmonious balance between their professional and personal lives.

As a Principal Software Engineer at ABBYY, you will be at the forefront of technical innovations. You’ll work with cutting-edge technologies such as Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, and Computer Vision. Your role will involve modernizing our platforms and creating scalable, robust solutions that align with the latest industry best practices, contributing to the evolution of our low-code/no-code Intelligent Document Processing platform.

The team environment at ABBYY is inclusive and collaborative, comprising over 600 colleagues from 30+ nationalities spread across 15 countries. As a Principal Software Engineer, you will engage closely with cross-functional teams in an Agile environment, fostering a culture of communication, innovation, and team success. Recognized for our high engagement Levels, ABBYY promotes a strong sense of unity among its staff.

When answering this question, provide specific examples of projects where you utilized C# and .Net, highlighting your contributions and the impact of your work. Discuss the complexities you faced and how you overcame them, emphasizing your problem-solving skills and commitment to code quality.

Discuss your approach to ensuring code quality, such as your practices in code review, automated testing, and following best coding standards. Be specific about the tools and methodologies you use and how they help improve code maintainability and performance.

When answering this question, focus on a specific instance where you faced a significant challenge. Outline the steps you took to analyze the issue, the solution you implemented, and the outcome. This showcases your analytical abilities and problem-solving skills.

Share your strategies for keeping up with industry trends, such as attending conferences, participating in online forums, reading relevant publications, or engaging with professional groups. Emphasize how this knowledge helps you incorporate innovative practices into your work at ABBYY.

Explain your previous experiences working in Agile environments, detailing the roles you have played and the impact of Agile practices on project outcomes. Provide examples of how Agile practices facilitated collaboration and adaptability in your teams.

Discuss your time management skills, organizational strategies, and how you prioritize tasks when facing tight deadlines. Highlight your ability to remain calm under pressure while effectively communicating with your team and stakeholders.

Talk about specific mentoring experiences, explaining the approach you took to guide junior engineers. Mention how you ensured their growth and development while fostering a positive learning environment, showing your leadership abilities.

Describe your communication methods and tools used for effective collaboration with cross-functional teams. Highlight how these strategies help foster understanding between technical and non-technical stakeholders, ensuring project success at ABBYY.

When answering, illustrate your strategies for system monitoring post-deployment, including the tools you utilize for performance tracking. Discuss how you identify bottlenecks and the optimization measures you've implemented to enhance service performance.

Share your preferred project management tools, elaborating on their effectiveness in enhancing workflow, team collaboration, and project tracking. This shows your adaptability and ability to leverage the right tools for successful project outcomes.