Principal Engineer (Backend), Commerce Platform
Autodesk · Portland, OR, USA
Job Requisition ID #
Position Overview
Autodesk is building a shared AI-assisted commerce platform that enables AI copilots and agents to safely discover, recommend, and transact Autodesk offerings. As a Principal Engineer, you will design and build the core APIs and orchestration layer (MCP) that connects AI systems to Autodesk’s commerce infrastructure—pricing, subscriptions, entitlements, and checkout—with enterprise-grade reliability, security, and governance.
This role sits at the intersection of platform engineering, distributed systems, and applied AI enablement.
Responsibilities
Build the AI-to-commerce orchestration layer (MCP): Design and implement the runtime and APIs that allow copilots/agents to invoke commerce capabilities safely and consistently (e.g., product discovery → pricing → eligibility/entitlements → checkout)
Define “agent-safe” platform primitives: Create standardized patterns for tool invocation (idempotency, retries, rate limits, validation), error contracts, and deterministic behaviors suitable for LLM/agent workflows
Integrate with core commerce systems: Build adapters and service interfaces to existing commerce capabilities (pricing, subscriptions, entitlements, checkout), including backward compatibility and rollout strategies
Enterprise reliability & operability: Own service SLOs/SLIs, observability (logs/metrics/traces), resilience patterns, and incident readiness; drive post-incident improvements
Security & governance by design: Implement strong authN/authZ, tenant isolation, secrets management, auditability, policy enforcement, and safe guardrails around agent actions (approvals, constraints, and traceability)
Platform quality and developer experience: Provide SDKs, documentation, reference implementations, and golden paths so product teams can integrate agents quickly and safely
Technical leadership at P4 scope: Drive architecture decisions across teams, lead design reviews/RFCs, mentor engineers, and influence roadmaps across the commerce + AI ecosystem
Minimum Qualifications
10+ years building and operating production backend/platform systems
Deep knowledge of distributed systems: scaling, failure modes, consistency, caching, queues/streams, concurrency, idempotency, and backpressure
Strong backend proficiency in one or more languages (e.g., Java/Kotlin, Node Js), plus strong API design (REST/gRPC) and data modeling
Experience with cloud-native systems (Kubernetes, CI/CD, IaC), and building reliable services with modern observability
Proven ability to lead cross-team initiatives through ambiguity, balancing platform correctness, security, and product velocity
Preferred Qualifications
Experience designing platforms for automation/agents (workflow orchestration, tool routing, policy engines, approvals, audit trails)
Commerce domain exposure: pricing catalogs, subscription lifecycle, entitlement checks, tax/payment/checkout flows
Multi-tenant enterprise patterns: tenant isolation, RBAC/ABAC, compliance-minded logging, data retention
Experience building internal platforms with adoption metrics, SDKs, and versioned contracts
Success in this role looks like
AI copilots and agents can reliably and safely complete commerce tasks using your MCP layer (with strong auditability and guardrails)
Integrations with pricing/subscription/entitlements/checkout become simpler, standardized, and faster for teams to adopt
Platform reliability improves measurably (SLO attainment, incident reduction, faster recovery) while maintaining strict security and governance
Learn More
About Autodesk
Welcome to Autodesk! Amazing things are created every day with our software – from the greenest buildings and cleanest cars to the smartest factories and biggest hit movies. We help innovators turn their ideas into reality, transforming not only how things are made, but what can be made.
We take great pride in our culture here at Autodesk – it’s at the core of everything we do. Our culture guides the way we work and treat each other, informs how we connect with customers and partners, and defines how we show up in the world.
When you’re an Autodesker, you can do meaningful work that helps build a better world designed and made for all. Ready to shape the world and your future? Join us!
Benefits
From health and financial benefits to time away and everyday wellness, we give Autodeskers the best, so they can do their best work. Learn more about our benefits in the U.S. by visiting https://benefits.autodesk.com/
Salary transparency
Equal Employment Opportunity
At Autodesk, we're building a diverse workplace and an inclusive culture to give more people the chance to imagine, design, and make a better world. Autodesk is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and considers all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status or any other legally protected characteristic. We also consider for employment all qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with applicable law.
Diversity & Belonging
We take pride in cultivating a culture of belonging where everyone can thrive. Learn more here: https://www.autodesk.com/company/diversity-and-belonging
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