Principal Platform Engineer (Java, Architecture & Enablement)

Who is Sonar?

Sonar is driving the future of agent-centric software development. As the leader in AI code review and verification, we solve a critical problem: ensuring that software generated by AI-assisted developers or autonomous agents is reliable, secure, and maintainable.

Integrating seamlessly with Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini, and Devin, we help over 75% of the Fortune 100 build trusted, reliable, compliant software. Customers who use Sonar are 44% less likely to report an outage due to AI-generated code.

We believe code verification is the critical missing link in the Agent-Centric Development Cycle (AC/DC). Industry giants like Nvidia, ServiceNow, Booking.com, Goldman Sachs, AstraZeneca, and Ford Motor Company.count on us to provide independent, explainable, consistent review and governance of their AI-generated code via products like:

• SonarQube: The world’s leading AI code review and verification platform.

• SonarQube Foundation Agent: Currently topping the leaderboards for agentic software repair.

• SonarSweep & Sonar Context Augmentation: Providing the enterprise-grade context and constraints agents need to be truly effective.

Our team operates across global hubs in Austin, Bochum, Dubai, Geneva, London, Singapore, Tokyo, and Washington D.C. We move with a mindset we call CODE:

• Committed to our customers and community.

• Obsessed with quality.

• Deliberate in our decisions.

• Effective as one team.

With over $400M in revenue and profitable, fast-paced growth, we are building the backbone of the AI software revolution. If you’re hungry to have an impact, want to build at a fast pace, and ready to work at the forefront of AI, we want to hear from you.

Position description

As a Principal Platform Engineer (Architecture & Enablement), you will be the technical catalyst behind our "Golden Path" strategy, turning architectural vision into tangible engineering reality. You will sit at the intersection of our Platform Division and our Product Software Engineers, providing them with the autonomy to ship faster and safer. You will design and build the "Golden Path" engine—the core scaffolding, CLI tools, and internal portal integrations—that allows engineering teams to bootstrap production-ready services in minutes, not days. You will engineer the foundational software blocks and libraries that solve common backend challenges once, enabling product teams to focus on business logic rather than reinventing infrastructure plumbing. You will act as a force multiplier, actively identifying friction points in our entire development lifecycle (from IDE to Production) and building the integration "glue" that eliminates them. You will serve as the R&D arm for the platform, prototyping emerging technologies (e.g., coding agents, ephemeral environments) to validate their value before scaling them across the organization.  

What you will do

Build the "Glue": You won't just design on whiteboards; you will write the high-leverage code—whether it’s a custom Backstage plugin, a specific GitHub Action, or a CLI in Go/Python—that bridges the gap between our raw infrastructure and the developer experience.

Experiment & Prototype: You will create "Tracer Bullet" implementations for new architectural standards, proving they work in code before advocating for their adoption across the fleet.

Engage as an Embedded Expert: You will partner directly with Product Squads, not as an auditor, but as a co-pilot—helping them adopt the Golden Paths and gathering direct feedback to iterate on the platform product.

Mentorship & Technical Leadership: You will elevate the technical bar of the Platform Engineering division, mentoring other engineers on modern software design, automation strategies, and "Platform as a Product" thinking.

Experience and qualifications

Principal-Level "Builder" Mindset: You have 10+ years of software engineering experience and still love to code. You are comfortable jumping into a complex Java/Python codebase to refactor a core component or writing a new tool in Go/TypeScript from scratch.

Cloud Native Architecture Mastery: You possess deep technical expertise in modern infrastructure standards— Networking, Containers and Kubernetes. You understand how to design distributed systems that fully exploit these platforms (e.g., resilience patterns, sidecars, ephemeral scaling) rather than just "lifting and shifting" legacy applications.

Forward-Looking Innovation (AI & Agents): You have a pulse on the future of software engineering. You are actively exploring how GenAI, LLM Agents, and intelligent automation can revolutionize the developer experience, and you have the curiosity to build the experimental tools that prove it.

Platform Product Engineering: You treat internal infrastructure as a product, but you understand that the best interface is no interface. You have moved beyond building static Service Catalogs (like Backstage) and have experience building CLI-first platforms and IDE-integrated workflows that scale "Golden Paths" to hundreds of users without forcing them to switch contexts.

Influence without Authority & Internal Evangelism (DevRel): You combine the empathy of a Developer Advocate with the strategic weight of a Principal Engineer. You drive adoption not by mandate, but by winning hearts and minds—marketing the platform’s value, building internal communities, and acting as the "Sales Engineer" for the Golden Path

Additional comments

This role is based in Geneva, Switzerland. We are unable to consider candidates unwilling to be in Geneva, but we are willing to relocate the right candidate.

Benefits

We encourage usage of our robust time-off allocations with 27 PTO days for our employees based out of the Geneva region, plus additional days based on seniority and circumstances.

We contribute 60% of the total cost for your pension; 13.5% to 15.5% of your base salary for savings; 2% for risk.

Generous discretionary Company Growth Bonus, paid annually.  

Commuting:Sustainable mobility options, including carpooling and the refund of 60% of the annual transportation subscription.

Global workforce with employees in 20+ countries representing 35+ unique nationalities.

We have an annual kick-off somewhere in the world where we meet to build relationships and goals for the company.

We value diversity, equity, and inclusion

At Sonar, we believe that our diversity is our strength. We are a global company that values and respects different backgrounds, perspectives, and cultures. We are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment where everyone feels valued and empowered to contribute their best. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and welcome all qualified applicants, regardless of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.

If you need any accommodation, please reach out to us at hiring@sonarsource.com. 

All offers of employment at Sonar are contingent upon the results of a comprehensive background check and reference verification conducted before the start date. 

We do not currently support visa candidates in the US. 

Applications that are submitted through agencies or third party recruiters will not be considered.