Ad fatigue is killing engagement, but we're fixing it. Thanks (thanks.co) is building the world's first customer-first ad network, an advertising platform that delights consumers instead of just targeting them. We’re seeking a Principal Engineer to help design and scale this groundbreaking platform. This is a senior technical leadership role: you’ll work closely with our founders, CTO, and product/engineering teams to shape technical strategy, solve complex challenges, and mentor others while remaining deeply hands-on. What you’ll do Shape system architecture and guide technical strategy – contribute to long-term design decisions, advocate for scalability, reliability, and security across our stack, and help drive pragmatic tradeoffs aligned with business needs. Lead complex initiatives – break down ambiguous problems, scope complex projects, and shepherd them from idea to production. Raise the technical bar – champion engineering excellence in design, code quality, testing, performance, and developer productivity. Mentor and influence – provide technical guidance to senior engineers, foster growth across the team, and help establish a strong engineering culture. Lead by example – design and build critical features and infrastructure across the stack, setting examples of best practices in action. Cross-functional leadership – partner closely with product, design, and leadership to shape roadmaps, evaluate trade-offs, and ensure technical alignment with company vision. Scale operations – help define processes, observability, and reliability practices that keep our systems performant and resilient as we grow. Requirements What we’re looking for Extensive experience with modern TypeScript / Node.js platforms and strong proficiency across the stack. Proven track record of architecting and scaling distributed systems in production. Deep expertise in system design, performance, reliability, and security. Strong judgment in balancing speed vs. quality, with an ability to cut through ambiguity. Clear, persuasive communicator who can influence across teams and functions. A history of technical leadership – mentoring engineers, guiding teams, and raising standards. Ownership mindset – you proactively drive initiatives from vision to execution. Collaborative and humble – you uplift those around you and lead with empathy. Experience in adtech or martech (ad serving, ranking, attribution, audience targeting, DSPs, etc.). Knowledge of Cloudflare ecosystem (Workers, Queues, KV, etc.). Familiarity with SRE practices and operating large-scale systems. Nice to have Experience with analytics and data platforms such as ClickHouse or other OLAP systems. Thanks' tech stack Turborepo / NodeJS / TypeScript React / NextJS / React Native Prisma / PlanetScale CloudFlare (Workers, Queues, KV, etc) Vitest / Playwright GitHub Actions DataDog / Sentry / OpenTelemetry Statsig Benefits Why Thanks? We're not just another adtech startup - we're rewriting the rules. Thanks is a Sydney-based, global-from-day-one company on a mission to kill ad fatigue and create advertising that consumers actually love. Our industry-leading engagement doesn't just capture attention; it delights, rewards, and transforms how people experience ads. Here's why you'll love working with us: Direct Impact: Your work will shape our products and trajectory as we scale rapidly. Ownership and Autonomy: We'll give you the right tools, freedom, and collaborative environment to succeed and achieve your biggest goals. Competitive Package: Enjoy a competitive salary, and stock options. Growth Trajectory: Thrive in an environment of rapid change, constant challenges, and endless opportunities. Comprehensive Benefits: Enjoy a benefits package designed to support your needs and wellbeing. Flexibility: Work flexibly, with two required days (Tuesdays and Thursdays) at our Bridge Street office in Sydney. We're tackling big challenges in advertising technology by creating our own ecosystem - not copying what exists. If you're excited to innovate, influence, and grow at a rapidly scaling company, we'd love to hear from you - let’s build something extraordinary together!
