Principal Software Systems Engineer

Powering the agentic revolution in travel. Sabre is an AI-native technology leader, backed by one of the world’s largest travel data clouds. Built on an open, modular, cloud-native architecture, Sabre serves as the backbone for both established leaders and bold, new disruptors, guiding them to the next age of travel retailing through intelligent, connected, and personalized experiences. With AI at its core and operating at unparalleled scale, Sabre transforms insights into innovation, empowering airlines, hoteliers, agencies and other partners to retail, distribute and fulfill travel worldwide.

We are seeking a Software Systems Engineer to join our global engineering team, where innovation knows no borders. This team designs and delivers resilient, high-throughput cloud services that power critical travel transactions across the globe. By building modern distributed systems, the team ensures our platform operates with exceptional performance, scalability and reliability. With an inclusive culture and flexible work environment, we work together with boldness, curiosity and commitment so we can all win together.

As a Software Systems Engineer, you will serve as a technical anchor, guiding engineering teams through the design and delivery of cloud-native microservices. You will take ownership of architectural decisions, drive continuous engineering improvements and champion modern development practices across the software lifecycle. This role requires technical depth in distributed architectures, hands-on engineering rigor and collaborative leadership to solve complex challenges sustainably.

What you'll do

• Provide technical leadership and architectural direction for distributed backend microservices within an Agile/Lean monorepo environment
• Design and implement high-performance service-to-service APIs, event-driven integrations and scalable data architectures
• Own the full software development lifecycle from technical design through code reviews, automated testing, CI/CD and production diagnostics
• Guide development teams in modern testing standards, observability, resilience patterns and failure handling to safeguard production stability
• Introduce and evaluate AI-assisted engineering practices, using tools such as GitHub Copilot to improve code exploration, quality, testing and delivery speed
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to align service boundaries, optimize infrastructure with Terraform and container orchestration, and ensure robust security standards

What you'll bring

Required qualifications

• At least 6 years of hands-on Java backend development experience, including recent production experience with Java 17 or later
• Deep expertise across the Java ecosystem, Spring Boot and the design of cloud-native microservices
• Proven track record leading development teams or serving as a technical anchor in Agile/Lean delivery environments
• Strong foundation in distributed systems, covering asynchronous messaging, service boundaries, consistency, failure handling and observability
• Solid grasp of the end-to-end SDLC, including CI/CD automation, testing frameworks such as JUnit 5, Mockito and AssertJ, code reviews and production support
• Practical experience applying AI tools effectively for code implementation, testing, debugging and documentation, along with evaluating their delivery impact
• Excellent communication skills in English

Preferred qualifications

• Familiarity with Java 21
• Domain experience in Order Management Systems (OMS) or travel/airline operations, including orders, PNRs, payments or booking servicing
• Experience managing builds and dependencies with Maven and Bazel within a monorepo
• Experience working with Google Cloud Platform, Google Cloud Spanner and distributed or NoSQL data stores
• Practical experience with Google Cloud Pub/Sub, event-driven architectures and message-driven workflows
• Hands-on experience developing or integrating APIs using gRPC, Protocol Buffers and REST/JSON
• Familiarity with containerized cloud deployments on Kubernetes/GKE, infrastructure as code via Terraform, Envoy service-mesh concepts or OAuth 2.0/Okta security

Work arrangements

• Hybrid working mode; 3 chosen days from the office in a week
• Flexible working hours: Maintain your work-life balance by adjusting your working hours to your needs

Paid time off

• Year-End-Break: enjoy additional fully paid days off during the last week of the year
• Paid parental leave: Take up to 12 weeks off with pay after birth or adoption of a child. Sabre Global Paid Parental Leave runs concurrently with local leave policies.
• Paid volunteer time: take up to 4 days annually to give your time to a charitable organization of your choice

Your money

• My Benefit platform/Multisport card: enjoy the benefit cafeteria system and use popular sport card
• Tax deduction: take the opportunity to claim deductible costs, reducing your income tax
• Employee Capital Plans: profit from long-term saving scheme co-financed by Sabre and the State Treasury
• Baby Bonus: benefit from one-time allowance on childbirth or adoption 
• Say Thanks program: collect points on recognition program and transfer them to wide variety of gifts and services

Health and wellness

• Luxmed medical coverage: take care of yourself and your family with the extensive medical package with a broad range of additional services
• Foreign travel insurance: feel safe going abroad with free Allianz insurance offered as part of our Lux Med package
• Employee Assistance Program: find help in free, confidential program with a certified counselor
• Mindfulness & meditation apps: take care of your mental and physical health
• Life insurance: sign up for free, high coverage life insurance program

Career development

• Professional development: access to e-learning platforms as well as join Sabre live learning sessions
• Certification and tuition reimbursement
• Our Communities: join one of our team member groups focused on sharing knowledge and best practices (Google Developers Group, Innovation Lab Community, Women in Technology, SOLVE!T and many more)

And more

• Car and bike parking 
• Fun & Relax zone in modern office: enjoy electronic tables to work, foosball, ping pong, pool table, swings, massage chairs and terraces to admire a panoramic view of Kraków. We have parents’ rooms as well
• No dress code
• Innovation Lab: access Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality equipment, Robot construction kit, 3D printers and many more
• Attractive Referral Bonus: earn $2500 USD for every hired referral

We will give careful consideration to your application and review your details against the position criteria. You will receive separate notification as we progress your application.

Please note that only candidates who meet the minimum requirements will proceed in the selection process.

Sabre is an equal employment opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability status, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.

#LI-Hybrid#LI-KG1