Principal Engineer (Backend)

British Veterinary Association; Bristol; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading veterinary technology company in Bristol is looking for a Principal Backend Engineer to lead architectural decisions and develop complex systems. The role requires over 10 years of experience in software engineering, a strong knowledge of .NET/C#, AWS, and modern engineering practices. You will enjoy flexible working, annual leave, birthday leave, and generous family-friendly policies.

Benefits

Flexible remote or hybrid working

Dog-friendly office

6.6 weeks' annual leave

Birthday leave

Enhanced family-friendly policies

Private medical insurance

Company pension scheme

Retail discounts

Qualifications

• 10+ years of hands-on software engineering experience.
• Proven experience designing and scaling distributed, event-driven microservices.
• Strong mentoring and leadership experience within high-performing teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead architectural decisions and hands-on development of complex systems.
• Design and implement scalable, secure, and event-driven microservices.
• Mentor Senior and Lead Engineers, supporting technical growth.

Skills

Hands-on software engineering experience

Designing and scaling distributed microservices

Strong knowledge of .NET/C#

AWS cloud ecosystem

Experience with EKS/Kubernetes

Proficiency with SQL Server

Tools

Terraform

DynamoDB

Job description

IVC Evidensia is undergoing an exciting digital transformation. We're building modern, scalable systems that empower veterinary professionals to deliver outstanding care - and that starts with getting our digital foundations right.

Whether you're in a clinic, an office, or working remotely, every role at IVC contributes to better outcomes for pets, vets, and pet owners alike. As part of our central technology team, you'll help shape the tools and platforms that support more than 2,500 veterinary practices across 20 countries.

The Role

As a Principal Backend Engineer, you'll lead architectural decisions and hands-on development of complex systems using modern engineering practices and cloud-native design.

You will:

Provide technical leadership and architectural guidance across multiple engineering teams

Design and implement scalable, secure, and event-driven microservices

Partner with Engineering Managers and Architects to shape our long-term system architecture

Lead delivery of large-scale, cross-cutting technical initiatives

Promote engineering excellence through TDD, pair programming, CI/CD, and DevOps

Mentor Senior and Lead Engineers, supporting technical growth and leadership development

Actively contribute to codebases when needed to guide or unblock high-impact work

Collaborate closely with Product, UX, Data, and Platform Engineering teams

Champion observability best practices, including metrics, logging, and tracing

Keep up to date with industry trends to influence our technology strategy

What You'll Bring

We're looking for a hands-on technical leader with strong engineering instincts, system-level thinking, and a collaborative mindset.

You should bring:

10+ years of hands-on software engineering experience

Proven experience designing and scaling distributed, event-driven microservices

Strong knowledge of .NET/C# and the AWS cloud ecosystem

Experience with EKS/Kubernetes, container orchestration, and infrastructure-as-code (e.g., CDK, Terraform)

Proficiency with relational and non-relational databases (e.g., SQL Server, PostgreSQL, DynamoDB)

Experience with messaging and pub/sub platforms (e.g., SNS/SQS, EventBridge)

Commitment to quality development practices: TDD, code reviews, design patterns

Strong mentoring and leadership experience within high-performing teams

Solid understanding of observability tooling and incident response

You Matter to Us

At IVC Evidensia, our people are at the heart of everything we do. That's why we invest in your well-being, career growth, and flexibility. You'll enjoy a range of benefits including:

Genuinely flexible remote or hybrid working (UK-based)

Dog-friendly office when you visit the Chocolate Factory

6.6 weeks' annual leave, including bank holidays

Birthday leave - take the day off to celebrate

Enhanced family-friendly policies and discretionary bonus

Reduced-cost veterinary care for your own pets

Private medical insurance or Cash Health Plan (eligibility applies)

Company pension scheme with IVC contributions

Cycle to Work and Green Car schemes (eligibility applies)

Retail discounts and cashback offers

24/7 confidential Employee Assistance Programme

Ongoing wellbeing and professional development initiatives