Principal Software Architect — System-Wide Impact

Ro; York and North Yorkshire; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision membership

Equity for all team members

Flexible time off

Paid parental leave

Flexible work arrangement

Well‑stocked office with snacks and bi

Job summary

Ro seeks a Principal Software Engineer to steer the long-term technical direction of our platform. You will champion scalable architectures, guide critical system health, and drive architectural decisions to enable Ro to grow safely and quickly.

You will mentor engineers and collaborate with product, design, and data teams to deliver strategic outcomes. You will translate complex problems into clear roadmaps, lead cross‑team initiatives, and advocate best practices for maintainability,

Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience building scalable, maintainable software systems.
• Deep expertise in backend engineering and distributed systems.
• Strong proficiency in Python and relational databases.
• Exceptional communication skills to articulate technical concepts to diverse audiences.
• Proven track record leading multiple teams and influencing technical strategy.
• Experience with metrics instrumentation and data-driven performance tuning.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive the architectural vision for core systems and platforms.
• Mentor Staff, Senior, and early-career engineers across teams.
• Lead multi-team initiatives from concept to delivery, balancing tradeoffs.
• Partner with product, design, data, and leadership to align technical strategy with business goals.
• Improve system health, observability, performance, security, and reliability.

Skills

Backend engineering

Distributed systems

Python

Architectural leadership

Mentorship

Technical strategy

Communication

Leadership

System health

Tools

Datadog

Job description

Ro seeks a Principal Software Engineer to steer the long-term technical direction of our platform. You will champion scalable architectures, guide critical system health, and drive architectural decisions to enable Ro to grow safely and quickly.

You will mentor engineers and collaborate with product, design, and data teams to deliver strategic outcomes. You will translate complex problems into clear roadmaps, lead cross‑team initiatives, and advocate best practices for maintainability,