PTC is hiring a Principal Software Engineer

PTC is looking for a Principal Software Engineer to serve as a senior technical leader for PTC Perc, our real-time Java Virtual Machine and toolchain. You will drive core product development for embedded, industrial, and defense applications, contribute to the product roadmap, support customers and evaluators, and play a key part in enabling future releases.

What You'll Do

• Serve as a primary developer for Perc Ultra SMP (32-bit) and Perc 64 (64-bit) built on a common C/C++/Java codebase running on Linux for Intel and ARM processors.
• Plan and execute development tasks; troubleshoot issues and clear blockers.
• Implement bug fixes, feature enhancements, and major new release content.
• Develop and maintain regression tests for fixes and new functionality.
• Review, test, and approve code changes from team members before commit.
• Monitor nightly builds, analyze errors/warnings, and implement corrections.
• Build, test, and package releases; contribute to Release Notes and user documentation.
• Contribute to long-term product roadmap planning, including tooling, Java version updates, and feature evolution.
• Collaborate with Developer Tools leadership to maintain and update licensing components.
• Work directly with customer engineering teams to diagnose issues, resolve technical questions, and advise on best practices for real-time Java development.
• Ensure timely and high-quality case responses to ensure customer satisfaction and ARR retention.
• Create and maintain technical content, tutorials, and knowledge base articles.
• Support Perc evaluators during trials, coordinating with support teams as needed.
• Partner with sales teams on active opportunities by joining customer calls, delivering product demonstrations, and responding to technical RFP/RFI questions.
• Represent Perc at key industry events (e.g., Embedded World, MOSA Summit) to support lead generation and gather market feedback.
• Assist in the remote management of internal R&D systems hosted in the San Diego Data Center, including source code management, bug/issue tracking systems, nightly build and automation systems, and backup systems.
• Support containerized DevOps infrastructure using custom Docker images.

What We're Looking For

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field (advanced degree preferred).
• 10+ years of professional software development experience in embedded systems or tools.
• Strong background in end-to-end software development, product quality, and technical problem solving.
• Experience with development tools for industrial automation and/or defense applications.
• Java (required)
• C (required)

Nice to Have

• C++
• Linux application development
• gcc, linker, glibc, libstdc++
• Linux ELF object formats for x86/ARM (32/64-bit)
• Familiarity with LLVM compiler infrastructure project
• Java language & JVM specification knowledge
• x86 and ARM instruction sets and architectures
• Lock-free concurrency (e.g., CAS operations)
• Real-time multithreaded programming using Linux real-time scheduling policies
• Bash, Perl, GNU Make, Apache Ant
• Subversion, Docker, Apache Httpd
• Experience authoring documentation in Adobe FrameMaker
• Experience using TPM 2.0 hardware on Linux for secure boot and decryption
• Linux administration on Red Hat/Rocky Linux and Ubuntu

Technical Stack

• Languages: Java, C, C++
• Platforms & Core Tools: Linux, gcc, glibc, libstdc++, LLVM
• Scripting & Build: Bash, Perl, GNU Make, Apache Ant
• Infrastructure & Tools: Subversion, Docker, Apache Httpd
• Specialized Tools: Adobe FrameMaker, TPM 2.0

Team & Environment

You will collaborate with Developer Tools leadership and global teams.

Benefits & Compensation

• Compensation: $112,000 - $160,000 + equity eligibility.
• Medical, dental and vision insurance.
• Paid time off and sick leave.
• Tuition reimbursement.
• 401(k) contributions and employer match.
• Flexible spending accounts.
• Life insurance.
• Disability coverage.
• Employee share purchase program (ESPP) for discounted PTC stock.
• Eligibility for equity programs.
• Generous commuter subsidy for office-assigned employees.

Proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer, we welcome applicants from all backgrounds and hire without regard to race, national origin, religion, age, color, ethnicity, ancestry, marital status, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by local, state, or federal laws.