Principal Software Engineer - Operations and Customer Services

ZipRecruiter; Havant; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading online cruise retailer is seeking a Principal Engineer to shape the evolution of their enterprise platforms at Iglu.com. This role is crucial for integrating and developing systems that enhance customer service and operational efficiency. You will lead cross-functional teams, work alongside industry experts, and have opportunities for professional growth within a supportive team that values innovation.

Benefits

Paid training and conferences

Flexible working hours

Travel perks

Collaborative working environment

Qualifications

• Experience in leading engineering or cross-functional teams.
• Experience in designing and developing scalable distributed solutions.
• Strong proficiency in enterprise integration patterns, APIs, SQL.

Responsibilities

• Take technical ownership of CRM and operations domains.
• Oversee development of applications for customer service.
• Contribute to sprint planning providing architectural guidance.

Skills

Problem-solving

Analytical skills

Communication

Interpersonal skills

Tools

C#

MVC

SQL

AWS

Infrastructure as Code

Job description

Job Description

About Iglu Why You'll Love Working Here

At Iglu.com, we're more than just a travel company — we’re the UK’s leading online cruise retailer, and we’re redefining what it means to book a cruise in the digital .

Working at Iglu means:

• Flat structure, real impact – Your ideas matter. Everyone contributes, and you’ll see the results of your work fast.
• Cruise perks & travel love – We’re in the business of adventure, and you’ll feel it.
• Smart, supportive people – Join a talented, close-knit team that genuinely enjoys solving hard problems together.
• Room to grow – We’re on a transformation journey, and there’s huge opportunity to shape the future with us.
• Training and development - Paid for training, conferences and certification e.g. AWS Certs.

We combine a passion for travel with a love for technology, delivering smart, seamless customer experiences and building platforms that handle the complexity of modern cruising — all while keeping things collaborative and fun.

What you will be doing and why it matters

As a Principal Engineer at IgluCruise.com, you’ll take technical ownership of the CRM and operations domains, helping to shape the evolution of our enterprise platforms and the seamless integration of business-critical systems.

From architecting clean, scalable integrations between internal and external platforms to overseeing the development of vital applications that power our customer service and operations — your work will be foundational to how we operate and grow.

You’ll be at the technical heart of a business that’s transforming how people book cruises online — a sector ripe for innovation and full of complexity.

Who will I be working with?

You’ll report directly to the Director of Engineering and play a leadership role across two cross-functional Product Teams focused on CRM and operations.

You’ll be supported by and work closely with:

• The Head of Architecture to align technical direction with target architecture
• The Director of Engineering to drive engineering strategy and team growth
• The Head of QA to ensure high standards of quality, automation, and release confidence
• The Lead Engineers and Software Engineers in the CRM and operations Product Teams
• Business stakeholders as a technical consultant for new idea submissions

Collaboration will be at the heart of your role — ensuring technology choices and development practices are aligned with business needs and delivered with excellence.

What you will own

Enterprise COTS SaaS platforms covering:

• Customer service and sales lead management
• Back office automation platform
• Call centre platform

Bespoke development covering:

• Agent Reservations (Configure, Price, Quote and Book)
• Booking management platform
• Customer Booking Portal

What we are looking for

• Contribute to sprint planning while providing architectural guidance to product teams.
• Shape the long-term technical vision for bespoke software, looking beyond immediate delivery needs.
• Serve as a technical advisor to business units aligned with product teams, with a primary focus on Sales and Customer Service.
• Bring deep expertise in application and platform development.
• Demonstrate strong proficiency in enterprise integration patterns (including APIs and event driven design), AWS and SQL as well as noSQL databases.
• Lead architecture and development decision-making with confidence and clarity.
• Maintain a hands-on approach, effectively balancing strategic thinking with practical implementation.
• Someone who can remain calm under pressure to investigate and resolve technical issues and challenges.

Tech at Iglu:

• We work in an Agile way but let teams decide how to operate within those boundaries
• We are happy with remote and office working
• We are pragmatic about what technologies we use but always are evaluating new tools//frameworks
• We are passionate about Infrastructure as code and AWS is our platform of choice
• We believe in autonomy and responsibility to sit in the teams that are building and deploying the software.
• Small frequent deployments are what we strive for

Experience / Qualifications:

• Experience in running engineering teams or cross functional teams
• Experience designing and developing highly available and scalable distributed solutions ideally ecommerce.
• Experience in Infrastructure as Code
• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Experience leading and mentoring a team of software developers
• Extensive experience of C#, MVC and SQL (.net framework and .net core)
• Experience working closely with Stakeholders and wider business
• Experience with AWS (or other cloud technologies)
• Experience with distributed caching
• Experience with search technologies
• Exposure to TeamCity, Octopus and Bitbucket Pipelines