CMT is seeking a collaborative, customer-committed, hands-on Principal Software Engineer I, Backend to join our Data & Platform group and strengthen the shared engineering foundation used across CMT. In this role, you will design and evolve scalable, reliable, and reusable platforms across cloud infrastructure, data platforms, developer tooling, observability, core services, messaging, and AI-enabled engineering capabilities. You will work across teams to establish practical architecture and engineering standards, improve reliability and developer experience, and build self-service capabilities that help CMT engineers develop, deploy, and operate products at scale. This role is based in Chennai and requires working from the CMT Chennai office three days per week.
Responsibilities:
- Lead the design and implementation of scalable, reliable backend services and APIs
- Use independent judgment to solve complex technical problems and make sound architectural decisions
- Provide technical direction for projects that span multiple services or teams
- Work with product managers, engineers, data teams, and other stakeholders to balance technical needs with customer and business requirements
- Design systems that balance reliability, performance, scalability, security, operability, and cost
- Identify and address performance bottlenecks, reliability issues, and recurring production problems
- Lead design and code reviews for complex changes and help maintain a high bar for engineering quality
- Improve engineering practices around testing, deployment, observability, and operational readiness
- Troubleshoot complex production issues and provide technical leadership during critical incidents when required
- Mentor engineers through design discussions, reviews, and day-to-day technical guidance
- Contribute to technical roadmaps and identify changes needed to support future scale and product requirements
Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent years of experience and/or certification in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field
- 7+ years of relevant professional software engineering experience
- Strong experience designing and building backend services, APIs, and distributed systems
- Proficiency in at least one backend programming language such as Python, Go, Java, or C++
- Strong understanding of relational databases, data modeling, schema design, and performance optimization
- Experience with cloud platforms such as AWS and services across compute, storage, databases, messaging, and serverless technologies
- Experience with automated testing, CI/CD, code reviews, and operating production systems
- Experience diagnosing complex production issues using logs, metrics, traces, and other observability tools
- Experience using AI-assisted development tools in day-to-day software engineering workflows
- Demonstrated ability to work independently on complex problems and influence technical decisions across teams
- Strong communication and collaboration skills
Nice to Haves:
- Experience building and operating high-throughput or large-scale backend systems
- Experience with event-driven architectures, message queues, or streaming systems
- Hands-on experience with Docker and container orchestration platforms such as ECS or Kubernetes
- Experience with infrastructure-as-code tools such as Terraform or Terragrunt
- Experience defining and operating service-level metrics, monitors, alerts, and SLOs
- Knowledge of application and API security, authentication, authorization, and secure service design
- Experience with data pipelines or backend systems that support analytics, machine learning, or large-scale data processing
Compensation and Benefits:
- Fair and competitive salary based on skills and experience including Provident Fund (PF), Corporate NPS, and a meal card program
- Equity may be awarded in the form of Restricted Stock Units (RSUs)
- Medical Benefits (Health insurance, Personal accident insurance, Group term life insurance), gratuity, parental leave, sick/casual leave, leave encashments, and public holidays
- Employees are eligible for flexible allowances which includes Leave Travel Assistance, Telephone/Mobile Expenses, Professional development expenses, Meals Coupon, Vehicle Reimbursement
- Flexible scheduling and hybrid work arrangements, as appropriate based on role and responsibilities.
Additional Perks:
- Work on a mission with real impact: crashes prevented, injuries avoided, lives protected around the world
- Join an industry leader — 65+ million drivers protected, powering 140+ programs across 25 countries
- Recognized innovator in mobility AI, earning top honors including the TIME Industry Leader in AI, a Gold Edison Award, and the Artificial Intelligence Excellence Award for AI for Social Good. CMT is also Great Place to Work Certified
- Be part of the team inventing the future of mobility and road safety
- Move fast, own outcomes, do work that matters
- High ownership, small teams, and direct access to leadership — no layers between your work and its impact
- Summer Fridays provide team members with half days to recharge
- Join one of our employee resource groups: Black, AAPI, LGBTQIA+, Women, Book Club, and Health & Wellness
- Comprehensive wellness, education, and employee assistance programs
Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion:
At CMT, we believe the best ideas come from a mix of backgrounds and perspectives.
We are an equal-opportunity employer committed to creating a workplace and culture where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered to bring their unique talents and perspectives. Diversity is essential to our success, and we actively seek candidates from all backgrounds to join our growing team.
We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status or disability state. CMT is headquartered in Cambridge, MA. To learn more, visit and follow us on Instagram @cmt.ai
About Cambridge Mobile Telematics:
Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT) is the world’s largest telematics and AI company for safer mobility. Its mission is to make the world’s roads and drivers safer. The company’s AI-driven platform, DriveWell Fusion®, proactively identifies and reduces driving risk, leading to fewer crashes and injuries. To date, CMT’s technology has helped prevent over 126,000 crashes worldwide. CMT enables partners to measure risk, detect crashes, provide life-saving assistance, and streamline claims. Headquartered in Cambridge, MA, CMT operates globally with offices in Budapest, Hungary; Chennai, India; Seattle, Washington; Tokyo, Japan; and Zagreb, Croatia. Learn more at