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For Companies At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead engineering projects, modernise software systems, and improve developer experience.
- Company: Join Dotdigital, a global community focused on innovation and client success.
- Benefits: Enjoy parental leave, medical benefits, paid sick leave, and wellbeing rewards.
- Why this job: Be part of a collaborative culture that values creativity and personal growth.
- Qualifications: Strong technical skills, leadership experience, and excellent communication abilities required.
- Other info: Flexible interview process with a focus on direct applications only.
The predicted salary is between 48000 - 72000 £ per year.
About Us
The Company: Dotdigital is a thriving global community of passionate, dedicated professionals, committed to the collective success of the organization and its clients. Our core principles of innovation, teamwork, and client-focused solutions drive us to approach challenges with a growth mindset and take ownership of our work. At Dotdigital, collaboration and curiosity pave the way for meaningful connections and learning opportunities with diverse peers. Our work environment encourages knowledge sharing, fosters exploration, and cherishes creative ideas. Combined, these guide us towards a shared vision in which brands around the world exceed customer expectations through the adoption of responsible marketing practices.
The Product: Dotdigital is an all-in-one customer experience and data platform (CXDP) that empowers marketing teams to exceed customer expectations with highly personalized cross-channel journeys. With Dotdigital, marketers can seamlessly unify, enrich, and segment customer data. Breaking down data silos, Dotdigital streamlines decision-making and paves the way for marketing creativity that delivers customer engagement at scale. With powerful AI capabilities, Dotdigital makes it easy to automate deeply personalized experiences across web, email, SMS, WhatsApp, chat, push, social, ads, and more.
About the Role
Principal software engineers will have great knowledge of the current architecture of our software systems, which parts don’t align with product requirements and what should be done to address this whilst balancing short and long-term technical objectives. They should become the first port for discussion when other engineers need to make decisions around technical direction and should also be able to effectively rollout communication around any directional changes to development managers and team leads.
- Create and maintain goal-state architecture diagrams and regularly review our progress towards them.
- Have regular catchups with Product to ensure these diagrams reflect the direction the business wants to travel in.
- Make the big technical calls. After weighing up arguments, be responsible for making any major engineering decisions Dotdigital faces.
- Modernize our software systems. Define strong bounded contexts that promote clear engineering focus and component reuse.
- Prioritize removing legacy technologies and improve our engineering practices.
- Enable change by reducing system complexity and increasing testability.
- Improve the developer experience throughout the development lifecycle.
- Force multiplier - Help make all teams of engineers more productive. Spend time working with different teams to improve them. This can be during planning phases, complex PRs or any other channel.
- Help teams to be more efficient by learning to fail fast.
- Business risk mitigation. Ensure all major technical risks are surfaced to the business.
- Champion writing high-level guidance on how to approach and solve problems.
- Finish Projects. The hardest part of a project is the last 10% - identify and work with teams that are struggling here to get things over the line.
- Work closely with the Platform Engineering Manager to ensure that Dotdigital’s technical direction is clear to all functions across the business and aligns with our future product ambitions.
- Keep current from a technology and domain perspective and where possible make sure Product Owners are aware of what will be possible in the future.
- Chief Incident Responder. Learn from incidents, spot re-occurring problems and engage the relevant teams to create a more stable platform.
- Promote & grow the technical track of progression at Dotdigital to improve the health of our technical direction.
About You
- Ability to work effectively in any of the technologies currently in use at the company from all the codebases to data storage and infrastructure.
- Good domain knowledge of Dotdigital software systems.
- Record of leading & delivering complex engineering projects successfully.
- Excellent reviewer. Record of finding issues (logical, scalable, security, etc) whilst reviewing architectural design and code.
- Good verbal & written communication skills.
- Strong understanding of performance, reliability, scalability and availability in large, distributed software systems.
- Strong understanding of security & privacy.
- Listener - Spend time listening to other technical people before suggesting your ideas.
- Responsible/Accountable - Always want to prevent the same failure from happening more than once.
- Leader - Support other technical people in the business; influence them, reinforce them, and help them succeed.
- Pragmatist - Know how to deliver business value by balancing short and long-term objectives.
- Innovator - Stay current with the progression of technology and put plans in place to take advantage of advancements.
- Precise - Everything you do should be precise from code to reviews and communication.
Interview Process
- 15min Screening Call with Team Talent
- 30min Interview with the Platform Engineering Manager
- 1-hour interview with Principal Software Engineer and Platform Engineering Director
- 1-hour final interview with the Platform Team
Some of Our Global Benefits
- Parental leave
- Medical benefits
- Paid sick leave
- Dotdigital day
- Share reward
- Wellbeing reward
- Wellbeing Days
- Loyalty reward
DEI Commitment
As an equal opportunities employer we are committed to equality in all its practices with regard to race, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, veteran status, or sexual orientation. If you have any additional requirements or adjustments to assist an application then please don't hesitate to contact us and advise us how we can best support you.
Legal Statement
No agencies/recruiters please. We are only accepting applications directly from the applicants. If you are a recruiter, please refrain from reaching out to our staff about this position. Anything contrary will be treated as unsolicited approach under the applicable data protection law.
Principal Software Engineer employer: dotdigital
Contact Detail:
dotdigital Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Principal Software Engineer
✨Tip Number 1
Familiarise yourself with Dotdigital's product offerings and architecture. Understanding how our customer experience and data platform operates will give you a significant edge during discussions and interviews.
✨Tip Number 2
Showcase your leadership skills by preparing examples of how you've successfully led complex engineering projects in the past. Be ready to discuss how you made critical technical decisions and the impact they had on your team and the project.
✨Tip Number 3
Brush up on your communication skills, especially in explaining technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders. Being able to articulate your ideas clearly will be crucial when discussing architectural changes and collaborating with different teams.
✨Tip Number 4
Prepare to demonstrate your problem-solving abilities by thinking through potential technical risks and challenges that Dotdigital might face. Show how you would approach these issues and what strategies you would implement to mitigate them.
We think you need these skills to ace Principal Software Engineer
Some tips for your application 🫡
Understand the Role: Before applying, take the time to thoroughly read the job description for the Principal Software Engineer position at Dotdigital. Understand the key responsibilities and required skills, and think about how your experience aligns with these.
Tailor Your CV: Customise your CV to highlight relevant experience and skills that match the job requirements. Focus on your achievements in leading complex engineering projects, your understanding of software systems, and any experience with modernising technology.
Craft a Compelling Cover Letter: Write a cover letter that showcases your passion for technology and innovation. Discuss specific examples of how you've made significant technical decisions in previous roles and how you can contribute to Dotdigital's goals.
Showcase Communication Skills: Since good verbal and written communication skills are essential for this role, ensure your application materials are clear, concise, and free of errors. Consider including examples of how you've effectively communicated complex ideas to diverse teams.
How to prepare for a job interview at dotdigital
✨Understand the Company Culture
Familiarise yourself with Dotdigital's core principles of innovation, teamwork, and client-focused solutions. Show how your values align with theirs during the interview, as cultural fit is crucial for them.
✨Demonstrate Technical Leadership
Be prepared to discuss your experience in leading complex engineering projects. Highlight specific examples where you made significant technical decisions and how they impacted the project outcomes.
✨Communicate Clearly
Since good verbal and written communication skills are essential, practice articulating your thoughts clearly. Be ready to explain technical concepts in a way that non-technical stakeholders can understand.
✨Showcase Problem-Solving Skills
Prepare to discuss past incidents you've managed and how you approached problem-solving. Emphasise your ability to learn from failures and implement changes to prevent recurrence.
