Principal Software Engineer

Patchwork Health; City Of London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 115,000; Full time

Job summary

A digital healthcare provider in the UK is looking for a Principal Software Engineer. This role involves leading the Technology Team, designing software architectures, and fostering technical excellence. The ideal candidate has a passion for detail, experience in healthtech, and a flexible, hybrid work approach. Competitive salary ranging from £90,000 to £115,000, with various employee benefits.

Benefits

Hybrid and flexible workplace

Cycle Scheme

Tech Loan Scheme

Employee Assistance Programme

Personal Learning & Development Budget

Flexible income options via Wagestream

Dog friendly London Hub

Access to co-working spaces across the UK

Qualifications

• Experience working with agile processes and building a culture for fast scaling organisations.
• Proven experience of overseeing a team including coaching and line leadership.
• Demonstrable experience in architectural decision-making.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership and guidance to the Technology Team.
• Design and review software architectures for scalability and performance.
• Communicate effectively with non-technical stakeholders.

Skills

Technical leadership

Agile processes

Coding standards

Collaboration

Troubleshooting

Attention to detail

Mentoring

Project management

Polyglot programming

Infrastructure building

Education

Computer Science or Software Engineering

Tools

AWS

CI/CD tools

JVM/Kotlin

Typescript

Ruby

Job description

We’re looking for a Principal Software Engineer to join our growing and passionate Technology Team. Technology at Patchwork is responsible for all activities related to the development and maintenance of the platforms we build.

• Providing technical leadership and guidance to the wider Technology Team. Being a leader in defining technical strategies and solutions and embedding good practices.
• This role is a leadership position, the role holder is responsible for the development, nurturing, and output of their team and is expected to uphold Patchwork’s standards of excellence.
• Designing and reviewing software architectures for scalability, performance, and maintainability and making technically and contextually informed decisions about the technology stack, frameworks, and tools.
• Writing high‑quality, clean, and efficient code, developing complex modules and components as needed.
• Leading by example in terms of coding standards, best practices, and design patterns; working collaborating to embed them throughout the Technology Team.
• Tackling complex technical challenges and providing innovative solutions, troubleshooting existing codebases and proposing improvements.
• Collaborating cross‑departmentally to gather requirements, define project scope, and ensure successful project delivery.
• Communicating effectively with non‑technical stakeholders to explain technical concepts and decisions, specifically working closely with Product, building an effective and open relationship.
• Ensuring code quality through testing, code reviews, and continuous integration practices, setting high standards for unit testing, integration testing, and code coverage.
• Project management, such as assisting in planning, estimation, and prioritisation, and providing technical insights to help manage risks and mitigate potential roadblocks.
• Creating and maintaining technical documentation and upholding good standards of technical documentation within the Technology Team.
• Keep up with industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices. Evaluate new tools, technologies, and methodologies to drive continuous improvement.
• Demonstrable experience working with agile processes (e.g. pair‑programming and TDD) and a history of building a culture suited to fast scaling organisations.
• Proven experience of overseeing a team including coaching and line leadership.
• Proven strategies for identifying, managing, and reducing technical debt.
• Demonstrable experience in architectural decision‑making, and in extracting services from a monolith.
• Ability to build infrastructure (i.e., AWS, infrastructure‑as‑code, CI/CD toolchain optimisation).
• Proven polyglot, including at least one of: JVM/Kotlin, Typescript, or Ruby.
• Capable of working full stack.
• Experience owning delivery of atomic features to actual users.
• Strong automated testing practices and quality‑focused delivery.
• Eagerness to work with multiple people and be a self‑starter.
• Prideful in attention to detail.
• Ability and passion to work in a fast‑paced scale‑up team environment, embracing its challenges and opportunities.
• Experience mentoring squad leaders.
• Experience in a tech start‑up/scale‑up.
• Experience or knowledge of the NHS, healthcare, or healthtech industry.
• Experience or knowledge of workforce applications.
• Qualifications in a related field i.e., Computer Science or Software Engineering (examples).

As featured in the likes of The Telegraph, Independent and Forbes, Patchwork is an award‑winning digital healthcare solution that was built by doctors, for doctors.

We are a rapidly growing team of 100+ people revolutionising flexible working in the NHS and are helping NHS organisations save millions (and counting), by connecting them to an increasing number of flexible bank workers. We help grow their staff banks, remove reliance and spending on locum agencies, and aim to improve the general experience of flexible bank working. We have always taken pride in having a hybrid working model even before the pandemic. Despite not being a fully remote employer, we are a flexible employer and encourage all of our employees to come into the office twice a week. Patchwork is an inclusive employer, and is committed to not only meeting legal requirements and standards, but our own diversity, equality, and inclusivity policies and pledges throughout all stages of the employee lifecycle. For more information on our pledges and policies, please refer to our website or reach out to Patchwork’s Talent Team.

Salary Range: £90,000 - £115,000

• Hybrid and flexible workplace
• Cycle Scheme
• Tech Loan Scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme (Health Assured)
• Personal Learning & Development Budget
• Flexible income options via Wagestream
• Dog friendly London Hub
• Vibrant and fun London Hub with unlimited refreshments & games
• Access to co‑working spaces across the UK