Principal Software Engineer

£100,000 £110,000 + 30% bonus + car allowance (up to £9,000)
Hybrid Manchester (central)

Were partnered with a large-scale SaaS enterprise building out a high-performing engineering function at the heart of a major platform transformation.

This is a Principal-level role within an elite engineering team (Arete) a group of highly capable engineers brought together to solve the most complex technical challenges across the platform.

The role

This is not a step away from engineering. Its the opposite.

• 80% hands-on engineering designing, building, and solving complex problems at scale
• 20% leadership guiding and elevating a team of Principal Engineers
• Driving architecture, engineering standards, and technical direction across multiple product areas
• Tackling high-complexity, high-impact work that sits outside the scope of standard squads

Youll operate as a technical authority, influencing how systems are designed, built, and evolved across the organisation.

What makes this different

• Youre working alongside other Principals, not carrying the standard lone architect burden
• A dedicated team focused on solving the hardest problems, not BAU delivery
• Real ownership of engineering quality, scalability, and long-term platform direction
• Backed by a business making serious, long-term investment in technology

What were looking for

• Deep expertise in C# / .NET (Core/modern)
• Strong experience building distributed, scalable systems
• Cloud-first mindset (Azure ideally)
• Proven ability to operate at Principal level influencing beyond your immediate team
• Comfortable leading and mentoring high-calibre engineers
• Someone who still loves being hands-on and close to the code

Why this role

This is a rare opportunity to step into a true Principal position where:

• You remain deeply technical
• You help shape engineering at scale
• You work with other top-tier engineers
• You contribute to a platform transformation that genuinely matters

If youre operating at Principal level or ready to step into it this is the kind of role that doesnt come around often.