Performance Engineer • Principal

Who you are

You are a systems thinker with a passion for uncovering performance bottlenecks across complex distributed systems — your experience has equipped you to thrive on solving the hardest scalability problems in production, particularly at the intersection of networking, concurrency, and cloud architecture. You are eager to define the performance engineering vision at a fast-growing fintech startup, and you understand the importance of collaboration and mentorship in achieving this vision.

With a strong technical background, you have led deep investigations into system behavior and championed performance-focused design — your ability to influence architecture decisions and mentor developers in best practices for building resilient, high-performance software sets you apart. You are comfortable leveraging cutting-edge technologies, including AI tools like GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT, to accelerate insights and maximize efficiency in your work.

You thrive in a culture that values ownership, growth, and transparent communication — you believe that how you work matters as much as what you build, and you are excited to contribute to a team that celebrates wins and learns from setbacks. Your approach to problem-solving is proactive, and you bring solutions rather than just problems to the table.

What you'll do

As a Principal Performance Engineer at Ridgeline, you will serve as the technical anchor for performance engineering across the organization — your role will involve leading investigations into system performance, identifying bottlenecks, and implementing solutions that enhance scalability and efficiency. You will work closely with engineering teams to influence architectural decisions and ensure that performance considerations are integrated into the design process from the outset.

You will help design scalable and cost-effective testing and validation systems, leveraging your expertise to create frameworks that support performance testing across various environments. Your responsibilities will include mentoring developers on best practices for performance engineering, fostering a culture of continuous improvement, and ensuring that performance metrics are tracked and analyzed effectively.

In this highly visible role, you will collaborate with cross-functional teams to drive performance initiatives that align with the company's strategic goals — your insights will shape the standards that impact the company’s platform at scale, and you will play a key role in defining the future of performance engineering at Ridgeline.

What we offer

At Ridgeline, we offer a collaborative and high-performing culture where your contributions will have a direct impact on our mission to reimagine the fintech industry. You will have the opportunity to work with a talented team of professionals who are committed to innovation and excellence. We encourage you to apply even if your experience doesn't match every requirement — your curiosity and growth mindset are just as important to us as your technical skills. Join us in shaping the future of performance engineering and making a meaningful difference in the fintech space.