Principal Engineer (Backend)

Responsibilities:

• Lead the end-to-end delivery of complex product features and capabilities from technical design through to production release, monitoring, and iteration with full ownership of quality, reliability, and outcomes.
• Establish and evolve engineering best practices across a broad range of technical disciplines including system design, API development, testing strategy, CI/CD, observability, and security, setting the standard for the wider team.
• Actively mentor and develop junior and mid-level engineers through structured guidance, code review, pair programming, and honest feedback, creating genuine learning opportunities and fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
• Provide proactive and generous technical support to peers across the engineering team, unblocking, advising, and elevating the quality of collaborative work.
• Bring clarity and structure to ambiguous or complex problems, translating technical challenges into clear, actionable paths forward that the team can execute with confidence.
• Communicate proactively and transparently about progress, risks, and decisions to both technical and non-technical stakeholders, ensuring alignment and appropriate visibility at all times.
• Maintain a deep understanding of the product vision and organisational direction, ensuring that all technical decisions are made in service of long-term goals, not just immediate delivery needs.

Requirements:

• 8+ years of software engineering experience, with demonstrable experience operating at principal or staff engineer level, including a track record of end-to-end ownership of complex technical initiatives from design through to production.
• Proven startup or high-growth environment experience; this is a non-negotiable requirement.
• The successful candidate will understand the demands of a resource- conscious, fast-moving organisation and demonstrate the adaptability and initiative that environment requires.
• Deep technical expertise across software architecture, cloud-native systems, and production engineering, with the ability to work credibly across a broad range of disciplines and guide others in areas beyond their own specialisation.
• Demonstrated ability to mentor and develop engineers at all levels, with evidence of raising team capability and fostering a culture of quality, learning, and psychological safety.
• Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to translate complex technical concepts for non-technical audiences, proactively manage stakeholder expectations, and articulate technical decisions with clarity and confidence.
• Experience in health technology or regulated software environments is highly regarded.