Principal Software Engineer – Distributed Systems & Cloud-Native Platform (Java)

Career Area: Engineering Job Description: Your Work Shapes the World at Caterpillar Inc. When you join Caterpillar, you're joining a global team who cares not just about the work we do – but also about each other.  We are the makers, problem solvers, and future world builders who are creating stronger, more sustainable communities. We don't just talk about progress and innovation here – we make it happen, with our customers, where we work and live. Together, we are building a better world, so we can all enjoy living in it. Role Summary We’re seeking a   Principal   Software   Engineer  to build and evolve large-scale, distributed systems that power mission-critical platforms. This is a senior technical leadership role for   engineer s who thrive on solving hard, ambiguous problems at scale, and who can influence architecture across teams. You will drive system design, scalability, and   engineer ing excellence, while remaining deeply hands-on in building high-performance backend systems on a modern cloud-native stack. What You’ll Do Architect and build   high-throughput, low-latency distributed systems  using   Java   and microservices Lead   end-to-end system design  across services, data, and platform layers Design for   scale, resilience, fault tolerance, and operability  from first principles Build and operate   containerized workloads on Kubernetes  (multi-service, production scale) Define and raise the bar on   architecture, APIs, and   engineer ing quality standards Drive   cross-team technical decisions  and resolve complex system bottlenecks Mentor senior   engineer s and act as a   technical multiplier across teams Influence   platform roadmap, modernization, and developer productivity Basic Qualifications 12+ years  of experience building and operating backend systems at scale Strong expertise in   Java , Spring Boot, Microservices, Distributed Systems Proven experience designing   highly available, large-scale systems (traffic, data, or compute) Hands-on with   Kubernetes and Docker in production environments Strong fundamentals in   system design, concurrency, data modeling, and performance optimization Deep experience with   PostgreSQL or similar databases Preferred Qualifications Experience with   event-driven architectures (Kafka / streaming systems) Exposure to   cloud platforms (AWS/Azure) and hybrid architectures Experience with   observability, reliability   engineer ing, and production operations Contributions to   platform   engineer ing, frameworks, or internal developer platforms Track record of   influencing architecture across multiple teams or product Tech Stack Java | Spring Boot | Microservices | Kubernetes | Docker | PostgreSQL | CI/CD | Cloud (AWS/Azure)   Posting Dates: September 11, 2026 - September 24, 2026 Caterpillar is an Equal Opportunity Employer.  Qualified applicants of any age are encouraged to apply Not ready to apply? Join our Talent Community .