Principal Software Architect

Data Science Festival; Milton Keynes; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 85,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Healthcare package

Life assurance

Holiday trading scheme

Retail discounts

Gym and fitness benefits

Professional development

Job summary

Data Science Festival is seeking a Principal Software Architect to lead technical direction for a growing SaaS organisation. You will report to the CTO, shape software architecture, set engineering standards and mentor engineers across the business in a hands-on leadership role.

Hybrid role based near Milton Keynes (1 day every other week); £80,000–£85,000 plus benefits, healthcare, life assurance and learning opportunities.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience designing and delivering high-quality software.
• Strong commercial experience with C#, ASP.NET, Azure, React and REST APIs.
• Experience mentoring engineers and promoting engineering best practice.
• Strong understanding of cloud-native development and Azure services.

Responsibilities

• Design scalable, secure and maintainable software solutions.
• Lead architectural decisions balancing innovation, performance and long-term sustainability.
• Drive engineering best practices, coding standards and software quality.
• Work with Product and stakeholders to translate requirements into robust technical solutions.
• Mentor and coach engineers to raise technical capability across teams.
• Champion modern software engineering practices, automation and continuous improvement.
• Explore AI-powered development tools where they add value.
• Support delivery of reliable, cloud-native SaaS in a security-focused environment.

Skills

C#

ASP.NET

Azure

React

REST APIs

Job description

Principal Software Architect

Salary: £80,000 – £85,000 + Benefits

Location: Hybrid 1 day every other week – Milton Keynes

We are currently looking for a Principal Software Architect to join a growing, technology-led SaaS organisation that is investing heavily in its engineering capability and modern cloud platform. This is an opportunity to join a collaborative, forward-thinking engineering team where you’ll have genuine influence over technical direction rather than simply delivering features.

Reporting into the CTO, the Principal Software Architect will play a pivotal role in shaping software architecture, establishing engineering best practice, and mentoring other engineers across the business. This is a hands-on technical leadership position where you’ll work closely with Product, Engineering and business stakeholders to solve complex technical challenges whilst ensuring the platform remains scalable, secure and fit for future growth.

If you enjoy balancing strategic thinking with hands-on engineering, influencing technical decisions and helping teams deliver high-quality software, this Principal Software Engineer opportunity offers the chance to make a significant impact within a business where technology is central to its success.

The Opportunity

As the Principal Software Architect, you’ll provide technical leadership across multiple projects while helping to shape the future direction of the engineering function.

Key responsibilities include:

• Designing and delivering scalable, secure and maintainable software solutions.
• Leading architectural decisions that balance innovation, performance and long-term sustainability.
• Driving engineering best practice, coding standards and software quality across development teams.
• Working closely with Product Managers and stakeholders to translate business requirements into robust technical solutions.
• Mentoring and coaching engineers, helping to raise technical capability across the wider team.
• Championing modern software engineering practices, automation and continuous improvement.
• Exploring and adopting AI-powered development tools where they add measurable value.
• Supporting the delivery of reliable, cloud-native SaaS products within a security-focused environment.

This role offers the opportunity to influence both technology strategy and engineering culture while remaining technically hands-on.

What’s in it for you?

• £80,000 – £85,000 salary depending on experience.
• Hybrid working.
• Comprehensive healthcare and wellbeing package.
• Life assurance.
• Holiday trading scheme.
• Retail discounts.
• Gym and fitness benefits.
• Ongoing learning and professional development.
• The opportunity to influence architecture, technology direction and engineering standards.
• A collaborative engineering culture where technical excellence is genuinely valued.

Skills and Experience

• Extensive experience designing and delivering high-quality software within modern engineering environments.
• Strong commercial experience with C#, ASP.NET, Azure, React and REST APIs.
• Experience designing scalable, secure and maintainable software architectures.
• Strong understanding of cloud-native application development and Azure services.
• Experience influencing technical strategy and architectural decision making.
• Knowledge of secure software development practices within SaaS or regulated environments.
• Experience mentoring engineers and promoting engineering best practice.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to work effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• An interest in using AI tools to improve software engineering productivity and delivery.