At a Glance
- Tasks: Design and build high-quality backend features for a cutting-edge payments platform.
- Company: Join a growing tech team in Manchester with a focus on innovation.
- Benefits: Enjoy extensive holidays, hybrid work, and a solid pension scheme.
- Other info: Great career development opportunities and a chance to influence technical direction.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on architecture and engineering standards while mentoring others.
- Qualifications: Strong experience with Java, Kotlin or Scala and backend systems.
The predicted salary is between 80000 - 95000 £ per year.
- Role - Principal Backend Engineer
- Location - Manchester
- Work Pattern - Hybrid
The Role
We’re looking for an experienced Principal Backend Engineer to join a growing engineering team working on a new, high-performance payments platform.
This is a hands-on role where you’ll remain heavily involved in software development while providing technical leadership across architecture, engineering standards, code quality and best practices.
You’ll work closely with senior engineers and other technical disciplines, taking ownership of features from design through to implementation, testing, deployment and ongoing support.
- What you'll be doing
- Designing, building and shipping high-quality backend features.
- Working with asynchronous and event-driven systems.
- Providing technical guidance and mentoring to other engineers.
- Making key architectural and technical decisions.
- Writing clean, secure, well-tested and maintainable code.
- Reviewing code and helping establish engineering standards.
- Building and maintaining automated tests and CI/CD pipelines.
- Integrating third-party services and APIs.
- Working with cloud and platform engineers to build highly reliable systems.
- Using AI coding tools as part of your day-to-day development.
- Supporting the wider engineering team in adopting AI-assisted development effectively.
- Taking ownership of features throughout the full software development lifecycle.
- The Essentials
- Strong commercial experience with Java, Kotlin or Scala.
- Proven experience designing and building backend/distributed systems.
- Strong experience with event-driven and asynchronous architectures.
- Strong database experience, such as Postgre SQL, My SQL, SQL Server, Dynamo DB or Cosmos DB.
- Experience integrating third-party services and APIs.
- Strong understanding of testing, version control, CI/CD and secure coding practices.
- Experience mentoring engineers and contributing to technical standards.
- Comfortable working with a high degree of autonomy and ownership.
- Fluency with AI coding tools such as Claude, Chat GPT, Git Hub Copilot or similar.
- The Desirables
- Experience designing, building or maintaining payment platforms.
- Experience building platforms from the ground up.
- Experience working within regulated or high-trust environments.
- Cloud-native development across AWS, Azure or GCP.
- Docker, Kubernetes and infrastructure-as-code.
- Experience establishing engineering standards and best practices.
- What's on offer
- Extensive holiday allowance + Bank Holidays.
- Hybrid working from a Manchester office.
- Company pension scheme.
- Structured career development and ongoing learning support.
- The opportunity to have significant influence over architecture, engineering standards and technical direction.
Principal Backend Engineer in Manchester employer: Candour Solutions Careers
Join a dynamic and well-established technology business in South Manchester, where you will not only lead a talented technical team but also have genuine opportunities for career advancement into senior management roles. With a strong focus on employee development, a collaborative work culture, and the chance to make a significant impact on service delivery, this company is committed to fostering a rewarding environment for its staff. Enjoy competitive salary packages and the satisfaction of working in a supportive atmosphere that values innovation and excellence.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Principal Backend Engineer in Manchester
✨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 Candour Solutions Careers 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 Candour Solutions Careers.
✨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 Candour Solutions Careers.
✨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 Candour Solutions Careers 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 Backend Engineer in Manchester
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 Candour Solutions Careers.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at Candour Solutions Careers 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 Candour Solutions Careers
✨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 Candour Solutions Careers 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.
