Principal Software Engineer in Fleet, Hampshire

At CV-Library, we have a simple vision: to help the world to work and we are looking for exceptional and talented people to help us realise this vision in both UK and overseas markets. We are in a period of focused internal investment, following a year of key strategic acquisitions and significant investment across all parts of the business, from Tech and Data to People and HR, there’s never been a more exciting time to join us or a better place to grow your career!

The Role

• Hours: Monday-Friday, 9:00-17:30
• Location: Fleet
• Working Pattern: Hybrid – twice a quarter

We are looking for a Principal Software Engineer to provide technical leadership across multiple domains, including mobile applications and backend/server systems. This role is centred on driving alignment across teams and systems – owning how services and applications interact, ensuring consistency in interface design, and coordinating implementation approaches across Product, Architecture and Engineering. You will play a key role in shaping how our platform evolves, helping teams deliver independently while maintaining a cohesive and scalable system. This is a highly collaborative role requiring strong communication, influence and the ability to build consensus across a diverse engineering organisation.

Responsibilities:

• Own and evolve the interface specification lifecycle, including definition, documentation and governance
• Act as a bridge between mobile, backend and platform teams, ensuring alignment in how systems interact
• Coordinate implementation strategies across teams, working closely with Architecture, Product and Engineering
• Maintain a strategic technical view across domains, identifying opportunities for simplification, reuse and consistency
• Drive clarity in system boundaries, contracts and integration patterns
• Facilitate cross-team technical discussions, building alignment and resolving ambiguity
• Support teams in translating architectural direction into practical, deliverable approaches
• Identify and manage cross-cutting technical risks and dependencies
• Champion best practices in API and interface design, focusing on usability, scalability and maintainability
• Contribute to target architecture planning, including platform convergence and legacy system evolution
• Mentor engineers and technical leaders, particularly in systems thinking and cross-domain design
• Ensure high-quality, accessible technical documentation
• Contribute hands-on to implementation when needed, particularly to unblock teams, accelerate critical delivery, or de-risk complex changes
• Lead by example through pragmatic technical contribution, balancing strategic oversight with selective execution

What we’re looking for:

• Strong experience as a senior or lead engineer, with demonstrated impact beyond a single team
• Proven ability to work across team boundaries, influencing technical direction and driving alignment
• Experience designing and working with well-defined interfaces and APIs
• Strong understanding of software architecture concepts and system design principles
• Excellent communication and consensus-building skills, with the ability to bring diverse stakeholders together
• Ability to navigate ambiguity and provide clarity in complex technical landscapes
• A systems-thinking mindset, with an interest in how different parts of a platform interact and evolve
• Experience supporting delivery through collaboration rather than direct ownership
• Commitment to high standards in documentation, clarity and engineering quality
• Strong hands-on engineering capability, with the ability to contribute effectively to production code when required
• Ability to context-switch between strategic thinking and practical implementation, depending on organisational needs

We are actively committed to promoting a fully diverse and inclusive workforce and we welcome applications for this role from all candidates who meet the key requirements. Please do not hesitate to get in touch should you require any reasonable adjustments to assist with your application.