Principal Software Engineer (NodeJS/Golang/Ruby)

We offer a blended approach to office working, expecting you to collaborate and connect in one of our thriving offices on average three days per week. We deliver on what we say, taking the development of our people seriously. We’ll work with you to progress your success plan and provide opportunities to accelerate your career. Position Summary: We are seeking a versatile and experienced Principal Software Engineer to join our team and drive the technical direction of our projects. The ideal candidate will have a strong engineering foundation with expertise in modern programming languages and cloud technologies. While our current stack includes Ruby, we value strong engineering fundamentals over specific language experience and welcome candidates willing to adapt and learn. Key accountabilities and responsibilities: - Lead technical architecture design and implementation for complex software projects - Design and develop scalable backend services and APIs using modern programming languages - Architect and optimize database schemas for performance and scalability - Provide technical leadership and mentorship to junior developers - Conduct thorough code reviews to maintain high code quality standards - Collaborate with product and engineering teams to define technical requirements and solutions - Implement and maintain CI/CD pipelines and infrastructure as code - Ensure application security, performance, and reliability best practices - Document architectural decisions and create technical specifications - Drive technical discussions and decision-making processes Skills, knowledge, experience & qualifications: - 5+ years of professional software development experience - Strong proficiency in at least one of the following: Ruby, Python, TypeScript/Node.js, or Go - Demonstrated willingness and ability to quickly learn new programming languages - Strong expertise in AWS services (EC2, RDS, Lambda, S3, CloudFormation, etc.) or equivalent cloud platforms - Solid understanding of software architecture patterns and design principles (microservices, event-driven, DDD) - Extensive experience in database design and optimization (PostgreSQL, MySQL, NoSQL databases) - Proven track record of leading technical projects and making architectural decisions - Experience with containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes) - Strong understanding of API design principles (REST, GraphQL, gRPC) - Excellent mentoring and code review skills - Experience with version control systems (Git) and collaborative development workflows - Strong problem-solving and analytical skills - Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field, or equivalent experience Preferred Qualifications: - Experience with React.js or other modern frontend frameworks - Knowledge of infrastructure as code tools (Terraform, CloudFormation) - Experience with message queuing systems (RabbitMQ, Kafka, SQS) - Understanding of DevOps practices and monitoring tools (DataDog, New Relic, ELK stack) - Experience with test-driven development and automated testing frameworks - Familiarity with agile methodologies and project management tools - Previous experience in startup or fast-paced environments - Contributions to open-source projects or technical community involvement Technical Leadership Expectations: - Define and enforce coding standards and best practices - Lead architectural reviews and technical design sessions - Mentor team members through pair programming and knowledge sharing sessions - Evaluate and introduce new technologies that improve team productivity - Balance technical excellence with pragmatic delivery timelines - Foster a culture of continuous learning and improvement