At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead the design of innovative web applications for the construction industry.
- Company: Join Autodesk, a leader in transforming how things are made.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, bonuses, stock options, and comprehensive benefits.
- Other info: Collaborative culture with opportunities for mentorship and career growth.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on sustainable construction with cutting-edge technology.
- Qualifications: 10+ years in software development, expertise in React and TypeScript.
The predicted salary is between 80000 - 100000 £ per year.
The Autodesk Interactive Graphics Solutions group is seeking a talented and highly motivated individual to develop world-class commercial web applications used by construction companies to increase efficiency and reduce the high amount of waste produced during construction. As a Principal Software Engineer, you will define and drive the technical direction of the Viewer ecosystem and product workflows, shaping architecture, platform capabilities, and engineering practices across multiple teams.
You will operate on highly complex, ambiguous problems that span systems, domains, and organizations. You are expected to identify and frame high-impact opportunities, align stakeholders, and lead cross-team execution. Success in this role is measured by your ability to deliver impact across multiple teams and evolve platform-level capabilities that enable the broader ecosystem.
This role combines deep hands-on engineering with strategic technical leadership, ensuring scalable, performant, and extensible solutions that support current and future product needs. If you are an enthusiastic technical leader, keen to work on complex, high-impact SaaS applications and enjoy working in a dynamic, fast-paced team with state-of-the-art technologies, we would love to hear from you!
Responsibilities- Lead the design and implementation of large-scale, cross-team initiatives that impact viewer platform, products and services.
- Identify, frame, and prioritize high-impact technical problems aligned with product and platform strategy.
- Solve complex, ambiguous technical problems by breaking them down into clear approaches and executable plans.
- Influence and align multiple teams, ensuring consistent engineering practices and architectural standards.
- Act as a technical authority for critical decisions, guiding trade-offs across performance, scalability, and developer experience.
- Drive adoption of shared platform capabilities, frameworks, and patterns across teams.
- Improve engineering velocity by introducing tools, frameworks, and best practices that scale across the organization.
- Lead root-cause analysis of systemic issues and implement durable, cross-platform solutions.
- Mentor senior engineers and elevate engineering standards across the organization.
- Partner with Product, UX, and platform teams to shape long-term roadmap and translate business needs into technical strategy.
- Partner with Architects and evolve system architecture to ensure long-term extensibility, maintainability, and performance across the ecosystem.
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.
- 10+ years of professional software development experience, including significant work on large-scale or platform systems.
- Expert-level experience building large-scale web applications using modern frontend technologies including React and TypeScript.
- Strong experience designing and evolving complex system architectures across multiple teams or domains.
- Deep understanding of high-performance applications, distributed systems, and service-oriented architecture.
- Proven ability to lead cross-team technical initiatives and influence without direct authority.
- Strong experience with performance optimization, debugging, and operating complex production systems.
- Experience with modern development practices, including CI/CD and automated testing (e.g. Jest, Cypress).
- Experience working in Agile environments with short release cycles.
- Demonstrated ability to operate independently in highly ambiguous problem spaces.
- Demonstrated ability to write clean, maintainable, well-documented code.
- Excellent communication skills with the ability to influence senior stakeholders.
- Experience as a tech lead and mentor of junior and senior engineers.
- Experience with cloud-native architectures and large-scale distributed systems.
- Expertise in 2D/3D visualization systems, rendering engines, or graphics technologies.
- Experience building or evolving platform ecosystems (APIs, extensibility, developer platforms).
- Experience with observability, monitoring, and production system operations at scale.
- A proactive, curious engineer who stays current with emerging tools and technologies.
- Comfortable working in cross-functional teams of local and remote peers.
- Results-driven, adaptable, and capable of managing multiple priorities.
- Strong advocate for engineering excellence and continuous improvement.
- Collaborative mindset with the ability to communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Values in-person collaboration and intentionally leverages office interactions to strengthen relationships, accelerate decision-making, and foster a high-performing engineering culture.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Principal Software Engineer in Sheffield
✨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 Autodesk 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 Autodesk.
✨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 Autodesk.
✨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 Autodesk 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 in Sheffield
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 Autodesk.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at Autodesk 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 Autodesk
✨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 Autodesk 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.
