Principal, Backend

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in United Kingdom.

📋 Description

• Define the backend engineering strategy, architecture, and technical direction.

• Assist engineers in making informed technical and architectural choices.

• Establish practical engineering principles and guidelines.

• Steer the progression of both monolithic and modern service-oriented platforms.

• Coach and mentor engineers, enhancing their technical abilities and judgment.

• Evaluate significant designs and architectural choices.

• Advocate for security, quality, testing, observability, resilience, and performance.

• Recognize technical risks and guide teams in addressing them.

• Assess technologies and methodologies based on their contribution to SchemeServe.

• Balance the need for long-term engineering excellence with immediate business demands.

• Occasionally engage in hands-on implementation through prototyping, investigation, or assisting teams in overcoming obstacles.

• Collaborate closely with the CTO as a key technical partner for backend engineering.

• Enhance the engineering organization’s capacity to develop outstanding software.

⛳️ Requirements

• Profound knowledge in modern backend engineering and substantial commercial experience with C#/.NET.

• Strong understanding of software architecture, distributed systems, and API design.

• Experience with both mature legacy systems and contemporary service-oriented architectures.

• Robust cloud architecture expertise, preferably in Azure.

• Comprehensive understanding of databases, security, testing, maintainability, and modern software delivery practices.

• Experience in shaping engineering principles and practices across various teams.

• Proven track record of enhancing engineers through mentoring, coaching, and technical leadership.

• Capability to constructively challenge seasoned engineers without becoming a gatekeeper.

• Strong convictions, loosely held; possess the confidence to question and the humility to revise your stance.

• Excellent communication skills with the ability to influence without relying on authority.

• Exceptional technical judgment in balancing quality, complexity, risk, cost, and business value.

• Must be located in the UK and possess the right to work in the UK.

• No visa sponsorship or relocation options available.

• Nice-to-have: experience in modernizing large monolithic applications.

• Nice-to-have: commercial experience with TypeScript for backend development.

• Nice-to-have: familiarity with Cloudflare or edge technology.

• Nice-to-have: experience with SaaS platforms at scale.

• Nice-to-have: background in financial services, insurance, or another regulated sector.

• Nice-to-have: experience in observability, platform engineering, or SRE.

• Nice-to-have: knowledge of AI-assisted development and engineering productivity tools.

🏝️ Benefits

• Fully remote work.

• Biannual company retreats.

• Flexible working arrangements.

• Dedicated support for professional development.

• Paid days for charity work.

• A friendly, supportive, and highly collaborative work culture.

• Real influence on engineering practices across SchemeServe.

• Direct collaboration with the CTO on engineering strategy and innovation.

• Monthly deliveries of biscuits.