Principal Software Engineer in Toronto

A strategic and trusted insurance partner, Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI), provides a broad range of commercial property, casualty and specialty insurance coverages and outstanding service to customers and brokers around the world. We are a values-based organization where respect, integrity, excellence, collaboration, and passion define who we are and how we do business. We value diversity of backgrounds, experience, and perspectives and strive to foster an inclusive environment that enables all our team members to bring their best selves to work.

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) is seeking a highly skilled and experienced Technology professional to join its Enterprise Solutions (ES) team as a Principal Software Engineer based in Toronto. This role offers a unique opportunity to shape the strategic evolution of enterprise technology by leading the design and implementation of scalable, cloud-native solutions that support the dynamic needs of a fast-growing Surety business. The position demands a hands-on, solution-oriented mindset and a passion for delivering business value through technology.

The ideal candidate will thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative environment, bringing strong leadership, technical depth, and a commitment to engineering excellence. This role is ideal for someone who values autonomy, architectural ownership, and the chance to work on meaningful, high-impact problems that drive real business outcomes.

Duties & Responsibilities:

• Spearhead the design and development of scalable, cloud-native applications on Microsoft Azure, ensuring alignment with enterprise architecture principles and evolving business needs.
• Lead front-end engineering efforts using Angular or React to craft responsive, accessible, and user-friendly interfaces across platforms.
• Design and fine-tune database architectures with a focus on performance, scalability, data integrity, and security, leveraging SQL Server and modern ORM tools.
• Operate within an empowered engineering environment supported by modern platforms and tooling, enabling focus on impactful problem-solving over process overhead.
• Partner with enterprise architects and product managers to convert business requirements and architectural blueprints into robust, high-quality software components.
• Design and maintain automated CI/CD pipelines with clear quality gates and repeatable release workflows; champion DevOps principles and DevEx improvements that increase velocity, reliability, and maintainability at scale.
• Take ownership of the complete software development lifecycle, emphasizing test-driven development, secure coding, and long-term maintainability.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to engineering teams, conduct code reviews, and champion best practices that foster a culture of excellence and continuous learning.
• Communicate architectural decisions and technical strategies to the Enterprise Architecture Review Board, ensuring alignment with organizational standards.
• Proactively identify and resolve system performance issues, architectural inefficiencies, and reliability concerns through targeted improvement initiatives.
• Uphold compliance with cybersecurity protocols, data governance standards, and regulatory requirements throughout the software delivery process.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

• 10+ years of progressive, hands-on experience in software engineering and system administration, with a strong track record of delivering enterprise-grade solutions.
• Proven success in a Principal Engineer or equivalent leadership role, with deep expertise in designing and building scalable applications and integrating third-party platforms to meet complex business needs.
• Extensive experience in API-first, cloud-native, event driven architecture with a focus on designing resilient, distributed systems that support high availability and performance.
• Advanced proficiency in Java, C#, and the .NET ecosystem, including .NET Core and ASP.NET, with a commitment to writing clean, maintainable, and secure code.
• Strong front-end development experience using Angular (latest versions), with a focus on building responsive, accessible, and user-centric interfaces.
• Deep knowledge of relational databases, particularly SQL Server, including schema design, query optimization, stored procedures, and performance tuning using modern ORM frameworks.
• Hands-on expertise with Microsoft Azure services, including Azure Functions, App Services, Azure SQL, and Azure Storage, with a strong understanding of cloud-native development patterns.
• Comprehensive understanding of microservices architecture, including inter-service communication (REST, gRPC), message queues, and orchestration strategies.
• Exceptional analytical and problem-solving skills, with a meticulous attention to detail and a proactive mindset toward identifying and resolving technical challenges.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal abilities, with experience collaborating across distributed teams, engaging with stakeholders, and working with external vendors.
• Self-motivated and collaborative, with a strong sense of ownership, adaptability, and a team-first mentality focused on delivering high-quality outcomes.

BHSI Offers:

• A competitive package and exciting growth opportunities for career-oriented teammates.
• A dynamic, action oriented, and thoughtful environment centered on always doing the right thing for our customers, teammates and our other stakeholders.
• Benefits that support your life and well-being, which include: Comprehensive Health, Dental and Vision benefits, Disability Insurance, Life Insurance, Accidental Death & Dismemberment Insurance, Flexible Spending Accounts, Health Reimbursement Account, Employee Assistance Program, Retirement Savings 401(k) Plan with Company Match, Generous holiday and Paid Time Off, Tuition Reimbursement, Paid Parental Leave.