Principal Software Engineer at Smartsheet - Remote Bulgaria — Columbus
Traveler-Friendly Insight
Bulgaria-Only Remote Role — Geographic Restriction Applies
Despite the "Anywhere in the World" hint, this role explicitly requires candidates to be legally eligible to work in Bulgaria on an ongoing basis. This is a hard constraint: you must be a Bulgarian resident or hold valid work authorization in Bulgaria. Digital nomads based outside Bulgaria cannot take this position, regardless of timezone alignment.
For those already based in Bulgaria or considering relocating there, the lifestyle angle is favorable:
- Cost of living advantage: Bulgaria (especially Sofia) is one of the most affordable EU capitals, with monthly costs roughly 40–50% lower than Western Europe. A competitive Smartsheet salary in this market offers significant purchasing power.
- Timezone flexibility: The role reports to a Bulgarian engineering leader, suggesting core hours in EET (UTC+2/+3). This is well-aligned for travel within the EU, Turkey, or the Middle East.
- EU mobility: As an EU member, Bulgaria-based workers can travel freely within the Schengen Area — useful for workcations across Europe while maintaining Bulgarian residency.
- No mentioned equipment stipend or coworking budget, so factor in your own workspace costs.
Bottom line: this is a remote role, but not location-independent. You must be legally present and authorized in Bulgaria.
Headquarters: Remote, Bulgaria
For over 20 years, Smartsheet has empowered teams to manage work seamlessly and scale solutions smarter. Now, in our most ambitious chapter yet, we are uniting human teams with AI agents. By orchestrating the work agents do best, automating manual tasks and uncovering insights at scale, we create the space for people to focus on what truly matters: judgment, creativity, and big thinking. That is magic at work, and it's what we show up for every day.
We are looking for a skilled and motivated Principal Software Engineer who is passionate about continuous learning and eager to grow along with us in a fast-paced, innovative environment.
You will work remotely from Bulgaria and will be reporting to an engineering leader located in Bulgaria.
You Will:
- Lead the design and implementation of Smartsheet's next-generation architecture, ensuring scalability, security, and performance for millions of global users.
- Define and drive architecture strategy, making key technical decisions that shape the future of the platform.
- Review and guide technical project designs, providing feedback during design review presentations to ensure system resilience and scalability.
- Take ownership of cross-functional technical initiatives, aligning teams around common architectural goals while driving large-scale projects to completion.
- Foster strong technical leadership, mentoring senior engineers and influencing best practices across multiple engineering teams.
- Lead deployment reviews for high-impact projects, ensuring they meet scalability, performance, and security requirements.
- Collaborate closely with product management and other business stakeholders to balance market needs with technical constraints, driving innovation while maintaining technical rigor.
- Advocate for quality and operational excellence, ensuring systems are monitored, tested, and maintained to meet the highest reliability standards.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
You Have:
- Proven experience in system architecture and the design of scalable, high-availability systems across multiple programming languages and frameworks (Python, Go, Java, C/C++, SQL).
- Deep understanding of distributed systems, event-driven architectures, and microservices.
- Strong experience in leading large-scale architectural transformations, with the ability to influence technical direction across multiple teams.
- Expertise in web application development, data structures, and object-oriented design.
- A track record of mentoring senior engineers, leading them through architectural challenges, and ensuring they grow into strong technical leaders.
- Strong verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to convey complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences, including senior executives.
- Experience with cloud architectures and infrastructure at scale, as well as database optimization for performance and scalability.
- Demonstrated ability to work autonomously, driving initiatives forward while aligning with business objectives.
- Familiarity with Agile/Scrum methodologies, driving engineering best practices across teams.
- Legally eligible to work in Bulgaria on an ongoing basis.
- Fluency in English is required.
Smartsheet provides a competitive base salary range for roles that may be hired in different geographic areas we are licensed to operate our business from. Actual compensation is determined by several factors including, but not limited to, level of professional, educational experience, skills, and specific candidate location. In addition, this role will be eligible for a market competitive incentive opportunity.
Get to Know Us:
At Smartsheet, your ideas are heard, your potential is supported, and your contributions have real impact. You'll have the freedom to explore, push boundaries, and grow beyond your role. We welcome diverse perspectives and nontraditional paths—because we know that impact comes from individuals who care deeply and challenge thoughtfully. When you're doing work that stretches you, excites you, and connects you to something bigger, that's magic at work. Let's build what's next, together.
Equal Opportunity Employer:
Smartsheet is an Equal Opportunity (EEO) employer committed to fostering an inclusive environment with the best employees. It is our policy to provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified applicants in accordance with applicable laws in the US, UK, Australia, Germany, Costa Rica, Japan, Bulgaria, India, and Singapore. All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, protected veteran or disabled status, or genetic information.
If there are preparations we can make to help ensure you have a comfortable and positive interview experience, please let us know.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this role truly remote or is office attendance required?
What programming languages and technologies are required?
Does Smartsheet offer a specific salary for this Bulgaria-based role?
Who will I report to and what does the team structure look like?
Is prior experience with AI or AI agents required for this role?
