Principal Software Engineer

Title: Principle Engineer

Location: Primarily remote in Scotland, with some travel to Edinburgh.
Reports to: VP of Engineering

The Role at a Glance 

• Senior individual contributor with organisation-wide technical impact across a 15-engineer team

• Hands-on: you will write code regularly alongside leading architectural direction

• Owns AI transformation of the engineering org alongside the VP of Engineering

• Leads the Architecture Guild: sets technical direction and holds the team accountable to it

• Coaches and pairs with engineers as a primary responsibility, not an afterthought

• Greenfield opportunity: evolving a live platform from monolithic architecture to an AI-ready, scalable foundation

Tech Stack 

• Backend: .NET Core (no .NET experience required — we are moving toward a language-agnostic mindset and value strong engineering fundamentals over specific stack knowledge)

• Frontend: React (PWA)

• Cloud: Microsoft Azure

• Data: SQL Server, Microsoft Fabric (semantic layer)

• AI: LLM integrations, RAG pipelines, Claude API, vector search

• Tooling: GitHub, Azure DevOps

• Architecture: Monolith in active transition toward AI-ready distributed services

What You’ll Own 

• Lead Architecture Guild sessions: set technical direction, document decisions, hold the team accountable

• Drive Hyble’s AI transformation: LLM integrations, RAG pipelines, intelligent feature development, and AI adoption across the engineering org

• Pair with engineers on complex technical challenges, solving problems with them rather than for them

• Mentor and coach engineers through code review, hands-on collaboration, and 1:1 technical guidance

• Own the transition of the platform architecture toward a scalable, AI-ready foundation without disrupting live enterprise clients

• Be the trusted technical voice in build vs buy, platform strategy, and tooling decisions

• Identify and close technical knowledge gaps across the three product squads

• Contribute to technical hiring and assessment as the team grows

Key Challenges 

Raising the technical ceiling. The team is capable and ready to grow. Building the habits and culture that takes them from good to genuinely strong requires consistent presence, not periodic direction.

Leading the AI transition. Getting engineers to adopt AI as a real productivity and quality multiplier, not a gimmick, requires someone who can demonstrate it daily, not just advocate for it.

Evolving a live platform. Architecture improvements, test coverage increases, and scalability work all need to happen without breaking what enterprise clients depend on.

Building trust fast. The team has been through a period of change. Credibility is earned through technical depth, consistency, and genuine investment in the people around you.

What Good Looks Like at 6 Months 

• Engineers across all three squads are visibly improving their technical judgment

• AI tools and practices are embedded in the engineering workflow with measurable adoption

• Architecture Guild is running consistently with clear documented decisions

• At least one meaningful platform architecture improvement is in production or clearly underway

• You are trusted by the engineering team and operating as a genuine partner to the VP of Engineering

What You Need to Bring 

• Deep backend and systems engineering experience with production systems at scale

• A coaching instinct: you mentor through questioning and pairing, not by telling people the answer

• Hands-on delivery: you write code regularly and take pride in it

• AI fluency: practical experience building with LLMs or AI-powered features in production, not just experimentation

• Ownership mindset: you take accountability for outcomes, not just influence

• Commercial awareness: you understand that engineering decisions have business consequences

• Strong communication: you can explain complex ideas clearly at all levels

Bonus Points 

• Experience with .NET Core, React, or Azure cloud infrastructure

• Background in B2B SaaS, MarTech, or enterprise software

• Experience with vector databases, RAG pipelines, or semantic search

• Track record of running or contributing to architecture review processes

• Experience in a scale-up where you’ve had to build practices, not just inherit them

What We Are Not Looking For 

• The ivory tower architect: produces strategy in isolation, expects others to execute

• The solo performer: measures success by personal output, not by how the team around them has grown

• The framework collector: leads with methodology rather than judgment

• The passenger: waiting for the architecture to be perfect before engaging

Missing a few requirements? Good roles stretch you. If you’re 70% there and hungry for the rest, we want to hear from you.