Principal Software Engineer- Java (HYBRID San Jose, CA)

We are looking for a Principal Software Engineer with strong Java expertise to join our Product Engineering team. This role is focused on resolving customer escalations, diagnosing complex customer issues, and delivering high-quality fixes and feature enhancements in a fast-paced environment. The ideal candidate is a sharp, logical thinker and excels at quickly understanding large Java codebases, analyzing logs, identifying root causes, and implementing reliable fixes. They are also comfortable leveraging modern AI tools to accelerate debugging and development.

What You Will Do

• Lead investigation and resolution of complex customer escalations in Java-based systems.

• Analyze logs, traces, and application behavior to identify root causes quickly and accurately.

• Dive deep into large Java codebases to debug issues and implement fixes with confidence.

• Design and implement small to medium-sized features with high quality and maintainability.

• Upgrade and maintain third-party Java libraries to address security vulnerabilities and ensure compliance.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to triage, prioritize, and resolve production issues.

• Conduct thorough code reviews with a focus on reliability, performance, and security.

• Leverage AI tools (e.g., Cursor, GitHub Copilot) to enhance productivity in debugging and coding.

• Develop and influence a number of invention disclosures, patents or trade secrets

• Lead architecture of a complex system and guide design tradeoff decisions

What You Need

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Software Engineering/ Computer Science or related discipline & 8+ years of work experience

• Deep understanding of the Java ecosystem (JVM behavior, performance, memory management, concurrency).

• Proven track record of debugging and resolving complex production issues in Java applications.

• Strong ability to quickly understand and navigate large, existing Java codebases.

• Experience analyzing logs and performing structured root cause analysis.

• Solid understanding of software design principles, data structures, and algorithms.

• Experience working with distributed systems and production environments.

Preferred Qualifications (Strongly desired)

• Experience with Java frameworks (e.g., Spring, Spring Boot, Hibernate).

• Familiarity with dependency management and build tools (e.g., Maven, Gradle).

• Experience managing third-party libraries and addressing security vulnerabilities (e.g., CVEs).

• Knowledge of observability tools (logging, metrics, distributed tracing).

• Experience in customer-facing or escalation-driven engineering roles.

• Experience using AI-assisted coding tools such as Cursor or GitHub Copilot.

• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP).

• Lead the adoption of Software Development Life Cycle process changes and best practices

$176,300 - $293,700 USD Annual

Health benefits include: Medical and prescription drug insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, critical illness insurance, accident insurance, hospital indemnity insurance, personalized healthcare support, wellbeing program and tobacco cessation program. Financial benefits include: Health Savings Account (HSA), Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs), 401(k) plan, Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP), basic life and AD&D insurance, and short-term disability insurance. Stryker offers innovative products and services in MedSurg, Neurotechnology, Orthopaedics and Spine that help improve patient and healthcare outcomes. Alongside its customers around the world, Stryker impacts more than 150 million patients annually. Depending on customer requirements employees and new hires in sales and field roles that require access to customer accounts as a function of the job may be required to obtain various vaccinations as an essential function of their role.