Principal Distributed Systems Engineer (M/F/D)

Worker Sub-Type: Regular Job Description: Be part of something special; come join the Secusmart Software Development team! Secusmart, a subsidiary of BlackBerry Limited, is the leading expert in the development and implementation of comprehensive anti-eavesdropping solutions for German government agencies and emergency services as well as governments and public authorities worldwide. With teams in Germany and North America, we secure enterprise information and applications on today’s most popular mobile devices and platforms, protecting both business and personal data. We foster a flat hierarchy and a friendly, collaborative environment where every team member has the opportunity to make a meaningful impact. If you're passionate about designing and building scalable distributed systems, solving complex technical challenges, and influencing the future of our platform, we'd love to hear from you!

Your Role As a Principal Distributed Systems Engineer, you will define and drive the long-term evolution of our secure communications platform, shaping its architecture, scalability, and operational excellence. You will work across services, data platforms, infrastructure, and reliability engineering to enable substantial growth from current deployments to large-scale enterprise and government environments, while preserving the security, resilience, and certifiability that differentiate our solutions. As part of our agile scrum teams, you will collaborate closely with Operations and C++ / Python developers, influencing architecture through measurement, operational experience, and technical leadership.

In This Role

• Define and evolve the target architecture for our next-generation secure communications platform, including event streaming, distributed data storage, caching, and high-availability services.
• Design and implement scalable service and data platforms using technologies such as Kafka, ScyllaDB/Cassandra, Redis, and MariaDB.
• Ensure all platform components meet stringent security and compliance requirements, including encryption, access control, hardening, and certification evidence.
• Provide technical leadership and guidance to engineering teams integrating with the platform and adopting new architectural patterns.
• Drive the adoption of AI-powered tools, solutions, and practices to improve operational efficiency and business outcomes.

Are you the person we’re looking for?

• Are you energized by solving challenging problems and uncovering innovative solutions?
• Can you bridge the gap between deep technical expertise and clear stakeholder communication?
• Do you enjoy working in agile environments where adaptability and teamwork drive success?
• Are you someone who takes ownership, works methodically, and delivers results?
• Can you balance independent decision-making with effective cross‑functional collaboration?
• Do you actively seek opportunities to expand your knowledge and continuously improve?
• Are you comfortable communicating professionally in both German and English, whether in meetings, presentations, or written communication?

Ideally,

• Extensive experience designing, building, and operating large-scale distributed systems in production environments.
• Strong expertise with event-driven and distributed service and data platforms, particularly Apache Kafka, Cassandra/ScyllaDB, Redis, and relational databases such as MariaDB/MySQL.
• Hands‑on experience with scalable high-availability architectures, clustering technologies, load balancing, and stateful distributed services.
• Programming experience in Python and the ability to work effectively with C++ codebases.
• Strong understanding of security principles including TLS, PKI, encryption at rest, access control, and secure system design.
• Beneficial experience designing and operating geo‑redundant, multi‑site platforms.
• Experience with enterprise virtualization, cloud computing, and hybrid infrastructure environments.
• Experience working in Common Criteria or other certification‑driven environments.
• Strong performance engineering capabilities, including load testing, capacity planning, cost modeling, observability, profiling, and system optimization.
• Experience with deployment automation and large‑scale infrastructure provisioning.
• Familiarity with Infrastructure as Code practices and tools such as Terraform.

What We Offer

• AI‑first tooling – using the leading AI models and coding assistants (e.g. Cursor and top‑tier LLMs) in our daily testing and development work, and we give you the tools and freedom to work at the frontier.
• Hybrid work model – flexibility to work from home and our Düsseldorf office.
• The opportunity to co‑design work processes and shape the future of secure communication.
• A young and diverse Team.
• The chance to be part of a company that makes a real impact on global cybersecurity.
• Our product is rich in features and depth, offering endless opportunities to explore, learn, and master new skills.
• Flexible working hours to suit your personal productivity rhythm.
• Fitness reimbursement to support your well‑being.
• Scheduled Weekly Hours: 40
• Compensation Hiring Base Salary Range: €94,400.00 - €123,900.00
• Bonus: The BlackBerry Variable Incentive Pay (VIP) program is an organization‑wide bonus incentive program which aims to reward full‑time eligible employees for their contribution to BlackBerry’s success. VIP payments are made in addition to base salary and factor in company’s performance as a way for employees to share in BlackBerry’s achievements.
• Benefits: The BlackBerry Employee Benefits programs offer a wide range of benefits that support your physical and personal well‑being. BlackBerry remains committed to offering affordable benefits including coverage for pension, eye exams, computer glasses, wellness expenses, and paid‑time‑off to those that meet the eligibility requirements.

Disclosure of Position Status

This is an active opening. We are seeking to fill this position immediately.

Disclosure of Artificial Intelligence

We do not use artificial intelligence (AI) to screen, assess, or select applicants at any stage of our recruitment process. All applications are reviewed and evaluated by our hiring team.

BlackBerry provides enterprises and governments the intelligent software and services to power the world around us. Based in Waterloo, Ontario, BlackBerry’s high-performance foundational software enables major automakers and industrial giants alike to unlock transformative applications, drive new revenue streams and launch innovative business models, all without sacrificing safety, security or reliability. And with our deep heritage in Secure Communications, BlackBerry delivers operational resiliency with a comprehensive, highly secure and extensively certified portfolio for mobile fortification, mission‑critical communications and critical event management.

It is the policy of BlackBerry to ensure equal employment opportunity without discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, alienage or citizenship, status, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital or domestic/civil partnership status, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or any other basis protected by law. EEO Minorities/Females/Protected Veteran/Disabled BlackBerry strives to create an accessible and inclusive application and selection process and is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodation to job applicants who may require provisions to participate in the selection process. Should you require an accommodation, please contact or contact our HR department by calling . We will reply to your request as soon as possible.