NIQ is the world’s leading consumer intelligence company, delivering the most complete understanding of consumer buying behavior and revealing new pathways to growth. In 2023, NIQ combined with GfK, bringing together the two industry leaders with unparalleled global reach. With a holistic retail read and the most comprehensive consumer insights—delivered with advanced analytics through state-of-the-art platforms—NIQ delivers the Full View™. NIQ, is an Advent International portfolio company with operations in 100+ markets, covering more than 90% of the world’s population. For more information, visit NIQ.com.

Principal Software Engineer, Pune

We are looking for a Principal Software Engineer who defines and drives the technical strategy for large‑scale, distributed, and cloud‑native systems. This role operates at a company and platform level, designing foundational architectures, enforcing engineering standards, and leading complex technical transformations that impact multiple teams and products.

You will act as a technical authority and architect, balancing short‑term delivery needs with long‑term scalability, reliability, security, and cost efficiency. This role requires deep hands‑on expertise in Java, Python, SQL, distributed systems, cloud platforms, and modern DevSecOps practices, along with the ability to guide teams in AI‑driven development and generative tooling adoption.

Responsibilities

• Define and evolve the technical strategy for large‑scale, distributed, and high‑availability systems
• Design foundational platforms, frameworks, and shared services that impact multiple teams
• Lead architectural transformations for legacy systems and large‑scale applications
• Drive system‑wide decisions with a strong focus on scalability, performance, resilience, security, and maintainability
• Translate ambiguous business requirements into robust, future‑proof technical architectures
  
  Platform Governance & Engineering Standards
•  Develop and enforce governance policies for APIs, security, cloud infrastructure, and system integrations
• Define company‑wide best practices for engineering quality, reliability, observability, and efficiency
• Establish architectural guardrails to ensure consistent design and implementation across teams
• Drive adoption of security, compliance, and infrastructure automation best practices
  
  Cloud, DevSecOps & Cost Optimization
•  Establish strategies for cost‑efficient cloud resource utilization, scaling, and performance optimization
• Architect standardized CI/CD frameworks used across multiple teams
• Define DevSecOps guardrails ensuring secure, compliant, and consistent delivery pipelines at scale
• Champion Infrastructure‑as‑Code, automation, and operational excellence
  Data, Streaming & Distributed Systems
•  Provide technical leadership in large‑scale data processing, streaming architectures, and messaging systems
• Design and evolve systems using Kafka, queues, async processing, and event‑driven patterns
• Guide teams on concurrency, fault tolerance, back‑pressure handling, and system resilience
  
  AI & Engineering Innovation
•  Guide teams in AI‑driven development practices, including the responsible use of Generative AI tooling
• Evaluate AI and GenAI technologies for quality, scalability, security, and real business value
• Design and integrate AI/ML capabilities into systems from a platform and application engineering perspective
• Champion innovations that improve developer productivity, automation, and engineering efficiency
  Technical Leadership & Collaboration
•  Act as a technical mentor and design authority for senior and mid‑level engineers
• Engage in deep technical problem‑solving, influencing system‑wide technical decisions
• Collaborate closely with Product, Security, Operations, and Platform teams
• Lead by example through hands‑on design reviews, architectural guidance, and complex issue resolution
  
  Required Technical Skills: Core Engineering 
•  Java (Spring Boot, REST, Microservices, JVM internals)
• Python (core Python, scripting, automation, data processing)
• SQL (advanced querying, schema design, performance tuning)
• Strong knowledge of Data Structures, Algorithms, and System Design
• Scripting languages (Shell, Bash, or similar)
  
  Systems & Platforms
• Distributed systems, concurrency, fault tolerance, scalability patterns
• Cloud platforms (Azure / AWS / GCP) and cloud‑native architectures
• Containers and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes)
• CI/CD, DevSecOps, Infrastructure‑as‑Code
• Messaging and streaming systems (Kafka, event‑driven architectures)
  
  AI / Data (Working Knowledge)
• Experience integrating AI/ML or GenAI APIs into production systems
• Understanding of data pipelines, model deployment, and operational AI concerns
• Ability to assess where AI adds value versus unnecessary complexity

• Must have 10–15+ years of hands‑on software engineering experience
• Proven experience designing and operating enterprise‑grade, large‑scale systems
• Demonstrated impact at Staff / Principal / Architect level
• Strong background in influencing architecture across multiple teams or platforms
• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in computer science or related field

 Leadership & Soft Skills

• Exceptional analytical and problem‑solving skills
• Strong written and verbal communication
• Ability to influence without authority at a company level
• Product mindset with focus on customer impact and sustainability
• High ownership, accountability, and bias for action

  Nice to Have

• Experience with Spark, large‑scale analytics platforms
• Exposure to security, compliance, and data privacy frameworks
• Proven experience driving organization‑wide technical initiatives
• Prior role as Principal / Staff Engineer or Platform Architect

Our Benefits

• Flexible working environment
• Volunteer time off
• LinkedIn Learning
• Employee-Assistance-Program (EAP)

NIQ may utilize artificial intelligence (AI) tools at various stages of the recruitment process, including résumé screening, candidate assessments, interview scheduling, job matching, communication support, and certain administrative tasks that help streamline workflows. These tools are intended to improve efficiency and support fair and consistent evaluation based on job-related criteria. All use of AI is governed by NIQ’s principles of fairness, transparency, human oversight, and inclusion. Final hiring decisions are made exclusively by humans. NIQ regularly reviews its AI tools to help mitigate bias and ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations. If you have questions, require accommodations, or wish to request human review were permitted by law, please contact your local HR representative. For more information, please visit NIQ’s AI Safety Policies and Guiding Principles: https://www.nielseniq.com/global/en/ai-safety-policies.

About NIQ

NIQ is the world’s leading consumer intelligence company, delivering the most complete understanding of consumer buying behavior and revealing new pathways to growth. In 2023, NIQ combined with GfK, bringing together the two industry leaders with unparalleled global reach. With a holistic retail read and the most comprehensive consumer insights—delivered with advanced analytics through state-of-the-art platforms—NIQ delivers the Full View™. NIQ is an Advent International portfolio company with operations in 100+ markets, covering more than 90% of the world’s population.

For more information, visit NIQ.com

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Our commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

At NIQ, we are steadfast in our commitment to fostering an inclusive workplace that mirrors the rich diversity of the communities and markets we serve. We believe that embracing a wide range of perspectives drives innovation and excellence.  All employment decisions at NIQ are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws. We invite individuals who share our dedication to inclusivity and equity to join us in making a meaningful impact. To learn more about our ongoing efforts in diversity and inclusion, please visit the https://nielseniq.com/global/en/news-center/diversity-inclusion