Principal Software Engineer - Product Platforms in London

Principal Software Engineer - Product Platforms in London

London Full-Time 80000 - 100000 £ / year (est.) Working from home possible
AlphaSense

At a Glance

  • Tasks: Design and build high-scale APIs for innovative product platforms.
  • Company: Join AlphaSense, a leading AI-driven market intelligence company.
  • Benefits: Remote work, competitive salary, and opportunities for professional growth.
  • Other info: Collaborative environment with a focus on innovation and technical excellence.
  • Why this job: Make a real impact by shaping the future of product platforms.
  • Qualifications: Extensive experience in software engineering and API design.

The predicted salary is between 80000 - 100000 £ per year.

Remote - United Kingdom

About AlphaSense:

The world’s most sophisticated companies rely on AlphaSense to remove uncertainty from decision-making. With market intelligence and search built on proven AI, AlphaSense delivers insights that matter from content you can trust. Our universe of public and private content includes equity research, company filings, event transcripts, expert calls, news, trade journals, and clients’ own research content.

The acquisition of Tegus by AlphaSense in 2024 advances our shared mission to empower professionals to make smarter decisions through AI-driven market intelligence. Together, AlphaSense and Tegus will accelerate growth, innovation, and content expansion, with complementary product and content capabilities that enable users to unearth even more comprehensive insights from thousands of content sets. Our platform is trusted by over 6,000 enterprise customers, including a majority of the S&P 500. Founded in 2011, AlphaSense is headquartered in New York City with more than 2,000 employees across the globe and offices in the U.S., U.K., Finland, India, Singapore, Canada, and Ireland. Come join us!

About the Role:

We’re looking for a Principal Software Engineer to help define and build shared, API‑first product platforms at AlphaSense that power multiple product surfaces, integrations, and agentic workflows. In this role, you’ll focus on building platforms as products: well‑designed APIs, clear contracts, strong reliability guarantees, and a roadmap driven by real product needs. These platforms are consumed by internal product teams, external integrations, including AI agents.

This role sits at the intersection of hands‑on engineering and cross‑product technical leadership. You’ll stay close to the code while shaping how product platforms are designed, evolved, and adopted across the company. You’ll also work across multiple teams and domains, helping to align long‑term technical direction while still owning end‑to‑end systems. This is not a people‑management role, nor is it a purely advisory architecture role. We’re explicitly looking for a Principal who enjoys building, prototyping, iterating, and solving complex problems in production.

What You’ll Do:

  • Act as a technical owner and force multiplier for API‑first architecture across the company
  • Design, build, and evolve high‑scale APIs used by internal teams, external customers, and intelligent agents
  • Lead the development of agentic workflows, including orchestration, state management, tooling, and integration patterns
  • Drive API standards, design principles, and best practices through hands‑on work and technical reviews
  • Tackle complex cross‑team problems where requirements are ambiguous, and constraints are real
  • Partner with Product, Platform, and SRE teams to ensure APIs are reliable, observable, secure, and scalable
  • Identify and reduce systemic technical risks while enabling teams to move faster
  • Mentor senior engineers and raise the technical bar through example, not hierarchy

Who you are:

  • Extensive experience as a senior staff/principal‑level software engineer working on applications and backend systems
  • Experience building product platforms or shared services consumed by multiple product teams
  • Proven track record of designing, building, and operating APIs at scale
  • Strong hands‑on experience with RESTful APIs
  • Some experience with GraphQL (design, usage, or operating in production)
  • Deep understanding of system design, performance, reliability, and evolution over time
  • Strong bias toward hands‑on contribution and ownership of real systems
  • Ability to influence technical direction across teams through credibility and execution

Nice to have:

  • Experience building or enabling agentic or AI‑driven workflows
  • Familiarity with MCP (Model Context Protocol) or similar agent integration patterns
  • Experience working in large‑scale, distributed systems environments
  • Exposure to API governance, versioning strategies, and backward compatibility at scale
  • Experience working closely with the platform and SRE teams

AlphaSense is an equal‑opportunity employer. We are committed to a work environment that supports, inspires, and respects all individuals. All employees share in the responsibility for fulfilling AlphaSense’s commitment to equal employment opportunity. AlphaSense does not discriminate against any employee or applicant on the basis of race, color, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, religion, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, military or veteran status, disability, or any other non‑merit factor. This policy applies to every aspect of employment at AlphaSense, including recruitment, hiring, training, advancement, and termination.

In addition, it is the policy of AlphaSense to provide reasonable accommodation to qualified employees who have protected disabilities to the extent required by applicable laws, regulations, and ordinances where a particular employee works.

Principal Software Engineer - Product Platforms in London employer: AlphaSense

AlphaSense is an exceptional employer for those looking to kickstart their careers in a dynamic and supportive environment. With a strong emphasis on professional growth, employees benefit from flexible remote work options and the chance to engage with industry experts, fostering both personal and career development. The collaborative culture encourages innovative thinking and adaptability, making it an ideal place for early-career professionals eager to make a meaningful impact.

AlphaSense

Contact Details:

AlphaSense Recruitment Team

StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫

We think this is how you could land Principal Software Engineer - Product Platforms in London

Join Local Tech Meetups

Get out there and mingle with fellow developers by joining local tech meetups. It’s a fantastic way to meet people who might be working at AlphaSense or know someone who does. Plus, you can pick up some trendy tech skills and trends while you're at it!

Contribute to Open Source Projects

Show off your coding chops by jumping into open-source projects. Not only does this give you practical experience, but it also gets you noticed in the dev community. You'll create a killer portfolio that speaks volumes about your skills to AlphaSense.

Tap into Online Developer Communities

Don’t underestimate the power of online developer communities like GitHub, Stack Overflow, and even Reddit. Participate in discussions, share your projects, and build your visibility. We can often find opportunities through these channels that can lead to a full-time gig at companies like AlphaSense.

Explore Job Boards Specifically for Tech Roles

Keep your eyes peeled on job boards that focus on tech roles. Sites like TechCareers or Stack Overflow Jobs can often have listings for companies like AlphaSense that might not show up on broader job sites. Make it a habit to check these regularly, and don’t hesitate to apply directly through our website!

We think you need these skills to ace Principal Software Engineer - Product Platforms in London

API Design
RESTful APIs
GraphQL
System Design
Performance Optimisation
Reliability Engineering
Technical Leadership

Some tips for your application 🫡

Show off your coding skills:When applying for a software engineering role, it's super important to showcase your coding skills. Make sure your CV includes your tech stack, any relevant programming languages you’re comfortable with, and examples of projects you've worked on. If you have a GitHub profile, link it up! We love to see code in action.

Tailor your portfolio:For a full-time role, we’d expect to see some solid examples of your work in your portfolio. Make sure to include at least two or three projects that highlight your problem-solving skills and your ability to work with different technologies. Focus on the projects that are most relevant to the position at AlphaSense.

Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at AlphaSense and how your skills align with the role. Show us your passion for software development. We dig enthusiastic candidates who understand the value of collaboration and continuous learning!

Be clear and concise:When it comes to writing your CV and cover letter, clarity is key. Avoid jargon that could confuse us and stick to simple, direct language. Highlight your achievements with quantifiable results where possible, and keep everything easy to read. A well-organised application goes a long way!

How to prepare for a job interview at AlphaSense

Brush Up on Your Coding Skills

For a full-time software engineering role, it's crucial that we stay sharp with our coding abilities. Expect technical questions that might involve solving problems on the spot or discussing algorithms. Practise on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank to get comfortable with the types of questions that often come up.

Know Your Tools and Frameworks

Make sure we’re well-acquainted with the tools and technologies listed in the job description. Familiarise ourselves with any specific frameworks or programming languages mentioned. If AlphaSense uses React or Node.js, for instance, be ready to discuss how we’ve used them in previous projects or coursework.

Showcase Your Projects

Bring along a portfolio that highlights our best work. This could be code samples, GitHub repositories, or any side projects we’ve built. Make sure we can talk through our thought process for each project, especially the challenges we faced and how we solved them—this shows our problem-solving skills in action.

Prepare for Behavioural Questions

While technical skills are key, full-time positions also require cultural fit. Be ready to discuss our previous experiences and how we handle teamwork, conflict, and deadlines. Brush up on the STAR method—Situation, Task, Action, Result—to clearly articulate our past experiences when discussing how we've contributed to a team.