[Hiring] Principal Engineer @Twilio

Role Description

Join the team as Twilio’s next Principal Engineer. The Phone Numbers Platform is the heartbeat of Twilio. In 2026, "getting a phone number" is no longer a simple API call; it is a sophisticated orchestration of global inventory, real-time identity verification (KYC), and automated regulatory compliance.

As a Principal Engineer (P5), you will own the technical strategy for a platform that processes millions of requests. You will be expected to:

• DRAW THE OWL: Lead the architecture and long-term technical roadmap for the Phone Numbers Platform, transitioning legacy systems into a modern, distributed microservices architecture that supports global scale.
• ACCELERATE WITH AI: Lead by example in using AI coding assistants (GitHub Copilot, Anthropic Claude, or internal LLMs) to automate boilerplate, generate exhaustive test suites, and perform rapid prototyping.
• BE AN OWNER: Drive technical excellence across multiple teams, making critical architectural decisions that balance rapid feature innovation with world-class reliability and security.
• WEAR THE CUSTOMER’S SHOES: Partner with Product Managers to translate complex global telecommunications regulations and customer needs into elegant, developer-first APIs and application workflows.
• EMPOWER OTHERS: Mentor and uplift senior and staff engineers. Foster a culture of technical curiosity, ownership, and continuous learning.
• RUTHLESSLY PRIORITIZE: Identify and mitigate technical risks early, ranging from scalability bottlenecks to security vulnerabilities.
• WRITE IT DOWN: Communicate complex technical strategies to both executive leadership and engineering teams through high-quality design documents, RFCs, and presentations.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience designing and developing highly available, high scale, secure, mission-critical cloud native enterprise distributed systems.
• Expert Proficiency in Java or Go, with deep knowledge of AWS ecosystems (Lambda, EKS, DynamoDB, Kafka).
• Architectural Mastery: Deep experience with cloud-native infrastructure (AWS preferred), microservices patterns, and designing "five-nines" (99.999%) resilient systems.
• AI-Native Workflow: Demonstrated experience using AI tools to significantly accelerate software delivery.
• API Excellence: A track record of building and maintaining high-volume public-facing APIs that focus on exceptional developer experience.
• Data Savvy: Experience with high-throughput data processing and storage solutions (SQL/NoSQL, Redis, Kafka, or Spark).
• Infrastructure as Code: Proficiency with Kubernetes, Terraform, and modern CI/CD paradigms.
• Leadership: Proven ability to influence technical strategy across multiple teams and organizational boundaries without direct authority.

Requirements

• Telecom Domain Expertise: Experience with telephony protocols, local number porting (LNP), or global regulatory compliance frameworks.
• Platform Thinking: Experience building "internal platforms" that enable other developer teams to move faster.
• Agentic Systems: Experience building or integrating AI agents into internal developer platforms or automated ops workflows.

Benefits

• Competitive pay
• Generous time off
• Ample parental and wellness leave
• Healthcare
• Retirement savings program
• Participation in Twilio’s equity plan and corporate bonus plan