Senior Principal Engineer (Kotlin, Java, Kafka), Fanatics Markets

About Fanatics MarketsFanatics Markets is the real-money prediction and trading app where you can invest in moments you care about. Built on a secure platform, we let users predict real-world outcomes and trade on events they actually follow - from sports and entertainment to political elections and beyond. Our mission is to redefine how fans engage with the moments and markets that matter most. We're looking for the right people to help us build the future of prediction markets.Role OverviewWe're looking for a Senior Principal Software Engineer to serve as the technical North Star for our event-driven architecture: the person who sets the standard, makes the hard calls, and shapes how we scale for the next several years.This isn't a heads-down IC role. It's a seat at the table for every major technical decision we make — from how we handle sub-millisecond latency on Kafka/Redis at peak trading volume, to how the entire engineering org thinks about async messaging and distributed systems design.ResponsibilitiesSet the long-term architecture strategy for our event-driven platform — getting ahead of complexity rather than reacting to it, and eliminating risks before they become production problems.Drive strategically critical initiatives across multiple teams, establishing the patterns and trade-off frameworks that become the gold standard across the engineering org.Serve as the ultimate escalation point for the hardest distributed systems problems — the person teams call when they've hit a wall that no one else can break through.Mentor and elevate senior engineers, removing bottlenecks and raising the technical ceiling of everyone around you. The measure of success at this level is what the org can build because of you.Own the high-stakes trade-offs between immediate delivery and long-term architectural integrity, advising product and business leaders with clear, confident technical narratives.Define and enforce the "Fanatics Standard" for how we build, operate, and scale — from coding patterns and observability practices to incident response and platform resilience.Proactively audit and simplify the codebase, resolving architectural deficiencies and technical debt before they compound into systemic risk.Represent Fanatics Markets externally through conference talks, technical writing, and open source contributions — bringing the outside world in and taking what we're building out to the broader engineering community.Required Qualifications15+ years building highly scalable, fault-tolerant distributed systemsDeep hands-on expertise with Kotlin, Java, Kafka, Redis, Kubernetes, AWS, and PostgresA track record of defining architecture standards adopted across engineering orgs — not just teamsThe ability to break down complex, ambiguous system problems into actionable strategies for multiple teams simultaneouslyProven experience translating deep technical complexity into clear narratives for engineers, product leaders, and non-technical executives alikeStrong instincts for production triage — you've been the person who stabilizes a distributed system under fireA history of elevating the engineers around you, not just delivering individuallyPreferred7+ years designing platforms at the intersection of high throughput, low latency, and cost efficiencyExperience in a startup or high-growth environment where priorities move fast and ownership is broadExposure to prediction markets, real-time trading systems, or financial infrastructureSalary Range: $201,400 - $331,250 per yearThe base salary for this role is based on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience and may vary depending on the successful candidate’s geographic location. Remote employees may also be eligible for a home office setup stipend. For information about our benefits, please visit https://benefitsatfanatics.com/Depending on the role, your interview and onboarding experience may include in-person components, such as onsite interviews or Launching into Better: LIVE—a multi-day cultural immersion in New York City for full-time, non-seasonal hires. These sessions are designed to build connection and bring our culture to life, though specific travel and participation requirements will be confirmed based on your role and location. Your recruiter will provide clear guidance at each stage of the process.Originally posted on Himalayas