Principal Software Engineer - Mobile App Monetization

About the position

PubMatic is seeking an experienced and technically driven Principal Software Engineer to lead the design and development of our next-generation mobile app monetization platform. This role is focused on building high-performance, scalable, real-time systems that drive programmatic monetization across various mobile ad formats, including banners, interstitials, rewarded video, and native ads. The ideal candidate is a seasoned backend engineer with deep domain expertise in mobile app advertising, OpenRTB protocols, and SDK-DSP-SSP integration workflows. You will work closely with Product, Data Science, and Monetization teams to design ML-integrated systems that optimize yield, latency, and reliability across our mobile ecosystem.

Responsibilities

• Architect and implement scalable APIs and backend services powering mobile app monetization, including SDK-driven request handling, real-time targeting, ML-based decisioning, and campaign selection logic.
• Develop low-latency, high-throughput server-side systems capable of handling billions of RTB bid requests daily.
• Collaborate with ML Engineering and Data Science teams to integrate models for yield optimization and performance enhancement.
• Design and support A/B testing and experimentation frameworks to evaluate monetization strategies across diverse ad traffic.
• Contribute to the long-term technical strategy and roadmap for the mobile monetization platform.
• Champion engineering best practices in observability, fault tolerance, API performance, and modular architecture.

Requirements

• Five plus years of backend engineering experience, with a proven track record of building high-scale, low-latency systems, preferably in the mobile app advertising or programmatic AdTech domain.
• Strong programming expertise in C++, with additional experience in Go or Java. Solid understanding of Linux/UNIX environments and system-level programming (multi-threading, multi-processing, memory management).
• Proficient in data structures, algorithms, and core computer science principles, with experience designing modular, scalable, and fault-tolerant systems.
• Deep understanding of programmatic advertising workflows, including RTB, OpenRTB 2.x/2.6, bid lifecycle, and mobile SDK monetization.
• Experience integrating with DSPs, ad exchanges, mediation platforms, and working with SDK-DSP-SSP pipelines, including device graph utilization and session-aware ad serving.
• Familiarity with rewarded video, native ad formats, in-app gaming monetization, and mobile-specific privacy regulations (e.g., ATT, COPPA).
• Hands-on experience with real-time ML inference pipelines, working closely with ML engineers and integrating model predictions into latency-sensitive systems.
• Practical knowledge of containerized and microservice architectures, with experience in API integrations, caching solutions, data stores, and cloud-native deployments.
• Skilled in troubleshooting production issues, performing root cause analysis, and supporting live systems with minimal downtime.
• Ability to write clean, modular, loosely coupled code and develop systems with strong observability and monitoring.
• Exposure to generative AI tools and familiarity with prompt engineering and AI-powered developer environments.
• Working knowledge of scripting languages such as Python, Shell, or Perl, and hands-on experience with relational databases, preferably MySQL.
• Excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills with a collaborative mindset and strong ownership over deliverables.

Benefits

• Paternity/maternity leave
• Healthcare insurance
• Broadband reimbursement
• Kitchen loaded with healthy snacks and drinks
• Catered lunches