Principal Engineer

What You Will Do

You will drive Klarna’s technical direction within and across Klarna's domains - ensuring that our systems are scalable, resilient, and architected for long-term growth. You’ll shape architectural strategy, connect cross-functional initiatives, and elevate Klarna’s engineering standards across the organization.

• Lead cross-domain engineering strategy and execution - translating Klarna’s vision into scalable, secure, and efficient architectures that serve multiple business areas, while fostering technical alignment across teams and competences.
• Architect and evolve Klarna’s technical foundations by simplifying systems, reducing duplication, and driving consistency in data models, APIs, and integration patterns that power global customer and merchant experiences.
• Set and uphold Klarna-wide technical standards for code quality, observability, reliability, and data management - ensuring operational excellence and enabling teams to deliver confidently at scale.
• Partner with Product, Data Science, and Design leaders to align technical investments with business outcomes, balancing long-term architectural evolution with short-term delivery priorities.
• Mentor and grow Klarna’s senior technical community, guiding Lead and Principal Engineers in decision-making, design reviews and career development, while nurturing a culture of technical curiosity and shared accountability.
• Drive innovation and continuous improvement by exploring emerging technologies, improving developer experience and enabling Klarna’s platforms to adapt to future opportunities and challenges.

Who You Are

• A recognized technical leader with deep experience delivering and scaling distributed systems across multiple business or product domains.
• Strategic in thinking yet pragmatic in execution — able to balance innovation, speed, and stability across complex organizations.
• Skilled in system architecture, data integration, and building reliable, observable systems that enable high‑velocity teams.
• Adept at influencing across teams and functions, aligning diverse stakeholders behind clear technical direction.
• A committed mentor who builds inclusive, empowered teams and fosters technical growth across the organization.
• Curious, reflective, and driven by continuous improvement - both personal and organizational.

Awesome to Have

• Experience leading cross‑functional initiatives in payments, e‑commerce, or large‑scale technology platforms.
• Expertise in distributed architecture, event‑driven systems, and cloud‑native technologies (AWS, Kubernetes, Kafka).
• Proven success improving observability, reliability or developer productivity at company scale.
• A track record of translating technical strategy into measurable business impact across domains.