Principal Backend Architect, Cloud-Native Java & AWS

Turnitin; Newcastle upon Tyne; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote-first culture

Generous time off

Health & wellness programs

Retirement plan

Job summary

Turnitin, a global education technology company, is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to drive backend and cloud-native platform capabilities in a remote-first UK role.

You will lead design and architecture for shared services, mentor engineers, and partner with product teams to deliver scalable, secure solutions used by millions.

The role requires deep Java experience, AWS expertise, and a track record of influencing technical direction across distributed teams.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience building and operating large-scale backend systems.
• Expertise in Java and modern cloud technologies.
• Experience with AWS serverless services (Lambda, DynamoDB, API Gateway, SNS, SQS, EventBridge).
• CI/CD tooling, build, deployment and test automation.
• Strong distributed systems, APIs, scalability and architecture knowledge.
• Ability to influence technical direction and lead complex initiatives.
• Excellent collaboration within distributed teams.
• Mentoring and supporting growth of engineers.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and development of shared backend services and platform capabilities.
• Drive architectural decisions and technical strategy across teams.
• Build scalable, cloud-native solutions using Java and AWS.
• Mentor engineers and promote engineering excellence.
• Collaborate with product, architecture, and engineering to solve complex challenges.
• Champion software quality, performance, reliability, and security.

Skills

Backend systems

Java

Cloud technologies

AWS

Kubernetes

CI/CD

APIs

Distributed systems

Leadership

Communication

Mentoring

Tools

AWS Lambda

DynamoDB

API Gateway

SNS

SQS

EventBridge

Kubernetes

Job description

Turnitin, a global education technology company, is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to drive backend and cloud-native platform capabilities in a remote-first UK role.

You will lead design and architecture for shared services, mentor engineers, and partner with product teams to deliver scalable, secure solutions used by millions.

The role requires deep Java experience, AWS expertise, and a track record of influencing technical direction across distributed teams.