Principal Software Engineer

Job Description

Principal Software Engineer

Are you looking to make a significant technical and organizational impact at a fast-growing, investor-backed AI/ML company? Do you thrive in senior technical leadership roles and enjoy shaping both architecture and engineering culture? This is a high-impact opportunity to join a rapidly growing team operating at the intersection of AI/ML models, sensor fusion, and large-scale data systems.

Tocaro Blue is transforming maritime technology by modernizing legacy marine radar systems through advanced software solutions. Our flagship product, ProteusCore, is a sophisticated software platform that integrates vessel radar sensor data with artificial intelligence and machine learning models to deliver real-time situational awareness and decision support.

We are seeking a Principal Software Engineer to serve as a technical leader across the organization. This role is responsible for defining software architecture, guiding complex development efforts, mentoring engineers, and ensuring the successful delivery of robust, scalable, and high-performance software systems that enable advanced AI/ML capabilities in the marine domain.

Responsibilities

• Lead the technical vision and architecture for cross-platform software systems supporting AI/ML and sensor fusion applications
• Design, develop, and maintain high-performance application software primarily in C++, with supporting technologies as needed
• Provide hands-on technical leadership while mentoring and guiding senior and mid-level engineers
• Own and evolve core software libraries and shared codebases used across teams and products
• Set engineering best practices, coding standards, and architectural guidelines across the organization
• Perform and oversee code reviews, approve pull requests, and ensure software quality and maintainability
• Collaborate closely with product management, data science, and hardware teams to align technical execution with business goals
• Provide strategic input on company-wide technical challenges, long-term roadmap planning, and risk mitigation
• Estimate project scope, timelines, and technical effort for major development initiatives

Requirements

• Degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a closely related field
• 10+ years of professional software development experience, with deep expertise in C++
• Strong experience with system-level software architecture and large-scale application design
• Proficiency with C/C++, Python, JavaScript, qmake/cmake, and GCC
• Extensive experience developing and deploying software on Linux, macOS, Windows, Android, and Docker-based environments
• Strong background in source control, CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and documentation practices
• Demonstrated ability to lead technically complex projects from concept through production release
• Excellent problem-solving skills, code comprehension abilities, and technical communication skills
• Proven experience building, shipping, and maintaining production software products

Nice to Have

• Experience developing or extending frontend applications using Qt and QML
• Familiarity with communication protocols such as REST, CAN, TCP/UDP, MQTT, and BLE
• Experience working with hardware-adjacent systems, firmware, or embedded platforms
• Marine, maritime, or radar domain experience
• Prior experience working with AI/ML-enabled systems or data-intensive applications

Compensation & Commitment

• Competitive Salary with equity awards
• 401(k) with company match (up to 4% of salary)
• Comprehensive benefits including Health, Dental, Vision, Life, and Disability Insurance
• In-house training and professional development opportunities
• Eligibility to work on U.S. Government contracts (typically limited to U.S. citizens)
• Occasional travel (monthly day trips) for data collection and testing in Pensacola, Florida

Equal Opportunity & Eligibility

Tocaro Blue, LLC is an equal opportunity employer and we value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

Individual offers are based are made based on skill and experience, geographic location, as well as role, responsibility, and leadership within the company, and other due diligence. Our hiring team will try to determine whether each candidate fits the job description and may choose, at their discretion, to redirect a candidate to another job offering that is more appropriate.

All employees must be eligible to obtain a U.S. Department of Defense security clearance. With few exceptions, this is restricted to U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents (a.k.a. current Green Card Holders). Tocaro Blue LLC is not able to sponsor work visas nor permanent resident cards ("green cards") for this role.