Splunk, a Cisco company, is building a safer and more resilient digital world with an end-to-end full stack platform made for a hybrid, multi-cloud world. Leading enterprises use our unified security and observability platform to keep their digital systems secure and reliable. Our customers love our technology, but it's our caring employees that make Splunk stand out as an amazing career destination. No matter where in the world or what level of the organization, we approach our work with kindness. So bring your work experience, problem-solving skills and talent, of course, but also bring your joy, your passion and all the things that make you, you. Come help organizations be their best, while you reach new heights with a team that has your back. **Role Summary** We are looking for a Principal Software Engineer on our Incubation Team who is ready to shape the future of Splunk. You'll have the opportunity to architect groundbreaking solutions in a fast-paced, high-impact environment. We're seeking a proven technical leader who thrives in ambiguity, with a demonstrated history of designing complex systems, mentoring engineers and influencing technical direction. If you want to prove out innovative ideas and help shape strategic roadmaps, this is your chance. **Meet the Incubation Team** The Incubation Team is Splunk's internal startup, dedicated to exploring, validating, and accelerating high-potential ideas that will shape the future of our offerings. We are a small and talented team of 8-10 engineers who tackle high-risk, high-reward initiatives in a structured environment, free from the constraints of existing customer commitments. We foster a culture of innovation, rapid learning, and collaboration, working to deliver prototypes and proposals for product roadmap consideration, or clear summaries of learnings to inform strategic decisions. The team plays a critical role in identifying and developing solutions to solve real customer problems and maintain Splunk's market leadership. **What you'll get to do** + Architect and develop functional prototypes, including supporting engineering documentation, demos, and proposals, to validate new product and technology ideas with a high degree of technical and/or product-market fit ambiguity + Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including product managers, designers, and other engineers, to gather input, validate ideas, and ensure alignment with strategic goals + Determine the appropriate path for integration with Cisco technologies and leading the technical aspects of those integrations to satisfy both functional and non-functional requirements + Provide technical leadership and guidance to software engineers within the team, overcoming complex technical challenges and fostering a culture of continuous learning + Evaluate and recommend new technologies, tools, and development methodologies to enhance the team's capabilities and accelerate innovation + Document and communicate learnings, including rationale for projects that do no proceed, to inform future strategies and technical direction + Contribute to a culture of innovation, knowledge sharing, and talent development within the team and the broader engineering organization **Must-have Qualifications** + Extensive experience in software engineering, with a proven track record in designing and developing complex software solutions + A strong sense of ownership and bias for action, with a proven track record of showing initiative and a preference for taking decisive steps + Extensive experience in designing and developing scalable, reliable, and high-performance distributed software systems + Expertise in multiple programming languages (e.g. Go, Java, Python, C++). and software development frameworks + Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with a demonstrated ability to solve complex technical challenges + Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to effectively communicate technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences + Exceptional leadership, mentoring, and collaboration skills, with the ability to lead and influence technical direction **Nice-to-have Qualifications** We've taken special care to separate the must-have qualifications from the nice-to-haves. "Nice-to-have" means just that: Nice. To. Have. So, don't worry if you can't check off every box. We're not hiring a list of bullet points-we're interested in the whole you. + Experience working at a fast-paced startup or incubation environment + Experience with cloud computing platforms (e.g. AWS, Azure, GCP) and related technologies + Experience with AI, ML, or related fields **Splunk is an Equal Opportunity Employer** Splunk, a Cisco company, is an Equal Opportunity Employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, genetic information, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected basis.