Principal Engineer, Software Quality & Engineering Governance

About Carrier

About this role 

The Principal Engineer, Software Quality & Engineering Governance is responsible for establishing and governing enterprise software engineering standards, code quality practices, architecture review processes, and AI-assisted software development controls across the organization. 

This role serves as the technical authority for software quality and engineering excellence, ensuring all software solutions, whether developed by internal teams, external partners, or AI-assisted development tools, meet enterprise standards for security, maintainability, scalability, performance, reliability, and reusability. 

The individual will develop governance frameworks, automated quality gates, technical guardrails, review processes, and engineering best practices that enable rapid delivery while maintaining technical excellence. This role is expected to influence engineering teams across multiple technology stacks including Python, .NET, SAP, cloud-native applications, integrations, APIs, and emerging AI-enabled solutions. 

Key Responsibilities 

Engineering Standards & Governance 

• Establish and maintain enterprise-wide software engineering standards, development practices, and technical governance frameworks. 

• Define coding standards, design principles, architecture patterns, documentation requirements, and development lifecycle controls. 

• Create and maintain reusable development frameworks, templates, libraries, and reference architectures. 

• Drive consistency in software engineering practices across global development teams. 

Code Quality & Review Leadership 

• Serve as the enterprise authority for software quality and code review practices. 

• Review critical applications, architectural decisions, and high-impact development initiatives. 

• Ensure application code aligns with functional requirements, design standards, maintainability expectations, and enterprise architecture principles. 

• Establish processes for code certification, production readiness reviews, and technical quality assessments. 

AI-Assisted Development Governance 

• Define governance standards for AI-generated software artifacts. 

• Establish review, validation, approval, and traceability processes for AI-assisted code development. 

• Ensure AI-generated solutions comply with enterprise security, quality, regulatory, and maintainability requirements. 

• Develop policies and controls for the responsible adoption of AI development tools. 

DevSecOps & Quality Gates 

• Partner with development teams to implement automated quality controls throughout the software delivery lifecycle. 

• Define and monitor quality metrics including:  

• Code coverage 

• Technical debt 

• Code complexity 

• Security vulnerabilities 

• Performance benchmarks 

• Reliability measures 

• Defect escape rates 

• Establish automated CI/CD quality gates to improve consistency and reduce delivery risk. 

Architecture & Technical Design Reviews 

• Lead architecture and technical design reviews for strategic initiatives. 

• Evaluate software solutions for scalability, extensibility, resilience, security, and operational supportability. 

• Ensure alignment with enterprise architecture standards and technology roadmaps. 

• Identify opportunities to reduce technical debt and improve overall platform quality.

Performance Engineering 

• Define performance engineering standards and optimization practices. 

• Review applications for efficient resource utilization, scalability, throughput, latency, and operational efficiency. 

• Establish benchmarks and acceptance criteria for application performance across multiple technology platforms. 

Engineering Excellence Enablement 

• Mentor software engineers, architects, technical leads, and development managers. 

• Promote a culture of engineering excellence through coaching, training, and community leadership. 

• Enable development teams through automation, self-service tooling, standards, and reusable assets rather than manual governance processes. 

• Drive continuous improvement initiatives that improve software quality while accelerating delivery. 

Required Qualifications 

• H.S. Diploma/GED
• 10+ years of software engineering experience. 

• 5+ years leading architecture, software quality, engineering governance, or technical review functions. 

Preferred Qualifications 

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems. 
• Experience governing AI-assisted software development and generative AI coding platforms. 

• Experience with Python, .NET, Java, JavaScript/TypeScript, cloud technologies, and enterprise integrations. 

• Experience with SonarQube, GitHub, Azure DevOps, Jenkins, GitLab, or comparable engineering platforms. 

• Experience implementing engineering scorecards, technical debt programs, and software quality frameworks. 

• Knowledge of enterprise architecture frameworks and modern platform engineering practices. 

• Experience leading global engineering transformation initiatives. 

• Deep hands-on experience reviewing and governing software development across multiple technology stacks. 

• Experience establishing software development standards, governance models, and engineering best practices. 

• Strong understanding of:  

• Software architecture 

• Design patterns 

• Secure coding practices 

• DevSecOps 

• CI/CD pipelines 

• Cloud-native application development 

• API and integration architecture 

• Automated testing strategies 

• Performance engineering 

• Experience operating in large-scale enterprise environments. 

Pay Range

The annual salary for this position is between $143,000.00 - $286,000.00 annually. Factors which may affect pay within this range include, but are not limited to, skills, education, experience, and other unique qualifications of the successful candidate. The pay range will not be below the minimum wage applicable to the jurisdiction in which the applicant is to be employed.

Other Compensation

This position is entitled to short-term cash incentives, subject to plan requirements.

Benefits

Employees are eligible for benefits, including:

• Health Care Benefits: Medical, Dental, Vision; Wellness incentives

• Retirement Benefits

• Time off and Leave: Paid vacation days, up to 15 days; paid sick days, up to 5 days; paid personal leave, up to 5 days; paid holidays, up to 13 days; birth and adoption leave; parental leave; family and medical leave; bereavement leave; jury duty leave; military leave; purchased vacation

• Disability: Short-term and long-term disability

• Life Insurance and Accidental Death and Dismemberment

• Tax-Advantaged Accounts: Health Savings Account; Health Care Spending Account; Dependent Care Spending Account

• Tuition Assistance

To learn more about our benefits offering, please click here Work with us | Carrier Corporate. The specific benefits available to any employee may vary depending on state and local laws and eligibility factors, such as date of hire and the applicability of collective bargaining agreements.

Carrier EEO Statement and Accommodations Process

Carrier is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability or veteran status or any other applicable state or federal protected class. Carrier provides affirmative action in employment for qualified individuals with a Disability and Protected Veterans in compliance with section 503 of Rehabilitation Act and the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act.

Application Deadline

Applications will be accepted for at least 3  days from Job Posting Date: 16 October 2026

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Use of AI

Technology-enabled tools may support parts of the recruitment process, with oversight by people.