Principal Software Engineer (London Area)

At Wave Talent, we don’t want to consume any more of your time trying to decipher job descriptions to identify the information you need. Instead, we spoke with you all to understand the key information you’d like to know about a job position before you enter the process. Hopefully, you’ll find this listed below and if the job role sounds like it could be up your street; we’d love to arrange a chat to give you more info.

We’ve partnered with a high-growth AI technology company who are pushing the boundaries in industrial tech, and we’re hiring Senior to Principal Engineers to join their mission-critical platform team. This role is on-site 5 days a week and whilst this may change in the future, this is currently not open for hybrid or remote working.

Here’s everything you need to know:

• Salary: £100,000 - £150,000 per annum + equity (DOE).
• Benefits: Competitive equity in a company with excellent ARR, regular team socials.
• Industry/Type of business: AI-powered industrial technology.
• Work location: Fully onsite - 5 days a week in their Central London office.
• Interview process: 3-4 stages - Hiring Manager intro, technical interview, system design, and founder interview.
• Reporting to: CTO.
• Company size: 8 at present, with major growth plans over the next 12-18 months.
• Working on: Architecting and scaling a high-availability, AI-driven platform that transforms operations for some of Europe’s largest industrial operators. You’ll be leading from the front: designing complex systems, mentoring engineers, and driving technical excellence across the team.

We'd love to chat with you about this position if:

• You’ve got extensive experience as a Principal Engineer, Staff Engineer, or in a senior full-stack engineering role, ideally within fast-paced, high-growth tech environments.
• You’re highly proficient in TypeScript, React, NextJS, NestJS, or Python, with a strong track record of building scalable, reliable systems. Candidates from other technology stacks with a willingness to work with these tools are also encouraged to apply.
• You have experience architecting complex software platforms and enjoy collaborating closely with both engineers and enterprise stakeholders.
• You thrive in environments where speed, precision, and ownership matter, and want to work on genuinely impactful, high-stakes projects.
• You’re able and willing to work onsite 5 days per week in Central London.
• You have full right-to-work in the UK (unfortunately, no sponsorship is available).

Based on the client’s criteria, any of the below would make you a top applicant for this role:

• Experience in a scale-up environment (5x growth).
• Experience in a highly regarded technology business.
• A relevant degree from a leading university.
• Experience working in an AI start-up.

Whilst candidates who don’t have this experience will be considered, we prefer to be transparent as to what background the ideal candidate will have. Visa sponsorship is available for this role (note: candidates must be in the UK and have a current visa). If this sounds like you, apply today!