Principal Software Engineer (Platform)

Location

The Innovation Center, Catalyst, Queens Rd, Belfast BT3 9DT, United Kingdom

Principal Software Engineer

Your day-to-day

• Set architectural standards and technical strategy for the backend and payments systems.
• Lead the transition from Heroku, making platform, build‑vs‑buy and migration decisions that shape the company’s technical trajectory.
• Act as the primary point of contact for the most challenging backend and payments issues.
• Own product strategy for the Platform squad, balancing technical and business priorities without a dedicated Head of Product.
• Elevate the engineering organisation by building consensus among senior engineers on difficult technical questions and mentoring other senior and lead engineers.

You should apply if

• Have experience with Ruby, software architecture, migrations, payments and leading technological change.
• Have strong experience in software development, including a background as a technical leader.
• Have led major technical migrations, ideally including moving off a PaaS such as Heroku.
• Can make bold technical bets and accept accountability for them.
• Have experience shaping product strategy directly without needing a Head of Product to define it for you.
• Possess a product mindset: comfortable critiquing designs and understanding user journeys to find the best solution, not just implementing what is handed to you.
• Want to influence the company’s technical direction as it scales across the UK and into Europe.

What You’ll Be Working On

• Ruby on Rails – core API layer.
• Postgres – database layer.
• Stripe – payment processing for memberships, club shop and fundraising.
• Transition from Heroku to a new infrastructure.
• React Native – mobile applications.
• React (alongside Rails with Turbo, Hotwire and Stimulus) – web front end.

Level & Career Progression

Hiring at IC5 (Principal Engineer) on the engineering career ladder. You will set architectural standards, drive strategy, and handle high‑stakes technical challenges across the organisation.

Benefits

• Competitive salary and benefits.
• Hybrid work in Belfast’s tech hub, close to the Titanic Museum.
• Free car parking and office snacks.
• Flexible working hours.
• Access to the latest AI models to enhance productivity.

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