Principal Software Engineer

Zürich, Switzerland

About the role

Identify significant product opportunities and systemic engineering problems; set technical direction that balances near-term delivery with long-term product and platform health. Prove approaches through prototypes, critical implementation, testing, and difficult debugging, using hands-on work to guide architectural decisions. Own outcomes beyond release, using adoption, quality signals, evaluations, experiments, and user feedback to guide investment and adjust course. Improve engineering effectiveness across teams through testing strategies, performance work, shared design patterns, and tools for rapid, reliable experimentation. Lead technical discussions in the open, investigate community-reported issues, and work directly with developers and extension authors to shape designs. Mentor experienced engineers and technical leaders, helping them develop judgment and take ownership without making yourself a bottleneck. Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 6+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python OR equivalent experience. Demonstrated technical leadership across multiple teams, including setting direction, building alignment, and delivering substantial initiatives without relying on reporting-line authority. Solid hands-on coding and design skills, with the ability to become productive in large TypeScript and Rust codebases. Experience designing shared platforms, APIs, or large application architectures, with sound judgment about extensibility, compatibility, performance, and maintainability. Solid product judgment, including identifying opportunities, setting priorities amid ambiguity, and turning technical decisions into practical designs and measurable improvements for users. A track record of mentoring experienced engineers and improving the effectiveness of teams beyond your immediate area. Clear communication skills, including explaining complex technical decisions and navigating tradeoffs with engineering and product partners. We welcome a range of product backgrounds; these are helpful experiences, not a checklist. Previous work on developer tools, open-source projects, or AI products is not required. Master's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 8+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python OR Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 12+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python OR equivalent experience. Experience with TypeScript, JavaScript and Rust. Experience evolving interactive products with attention to usability and accessibility. Experience guiding cross-platform architecture, performance improvements, or major migrations in a large application. Experience establishing experimentation and feedback practices that connect engineering decisions to user outcomes. Practical familiarity with AI coding tools and sound judgment about where they help, where they fall short, and how they change development workflows. Experience providing technical leadership on AI-powered products, open-source projects, or extensible applications. These

requirements include, but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings:

About Swiftkey

SwiftKey is a technology company that aims to enhance interaction between keyboards and people. It upgrades smartphone keyboards to make typing faster, by utilizing artificial intelligence to learn from each user in order to autocorrect and predict their next word. The SwiftKey Keyboard for Android supports more than 80 languages. SwiftKey was founded by Ben Medlock and Jon Reynolds in 2008 and is based in London, United Kingdom.

Other roles at Swiftkey

Interested?

Let me introduce you to the founders.

Skip the process

Refer someone

Know someone great for this role?

Share your link. If they get hired through Standout, you get $3,000.

Job details

Location

Zürich, Switzerland

Company

NameSwiftkey
IndustryAndroid
Team Size2

What happens next.

No applications, no recruiter spam. Just the intro.

01

Confirm the fit

A few questions to make sure this role is the right shape for you. Two minutes.

02

I pitch you to the company

I write the intro, send it to the founder, and handle the back-and-forth.

03

A meeting lands on your calendar

If they’re a yes, I book the chat. You show up — that’s the whole job-hunt.