Senior Software Engineer

Hirewell; Greater London; On-site; GBP 85,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Growth opportunities within a fast-moving engineering organization

Flexible and collaborative work environment

Strong engineering culture focused on innovation

Job summary

Hirewell is seeking an experienced Staff Software Engineer to lead the evolution of a scalable distributed data platform in Greater London. This role involves tackling complex backend challenges, shaping strategy, and mentoring engineers while remaining hands-on.

The ideal candidate will have over 10 years of experience and significant expertise in distributed systems, microservices, cloud environments, and backend technologies. Enjoy a flexible and collaborative work environment and contribute to high-impact technical decisions.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of backend or platform engineering experience.
• Strong experience building and operating distributed systems at scale.
• Deep understanding of microservices architecture and service-oriented design.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and development of scalable backend systems.
• Architect and optimize high-performance, cloud-native services.
• Build and maintain large-scale ETL and data processing pipelines.

Skills

Backend or platform engineering experience

Building and operating distributed systems

Microservices architecture

Docker and Kubernetes

Cloud experience (AWS, Azure, GCP)

Relational and non-relational databases

Designing scalable APIs

Programming in Java/Kotlin, Python, C#

CI/CD pipelines

System design and scalability

Job description

Staff Software Engineer – Platform & Distributed Systems

$85-100k GBP

We are looking for a Staff Software Engineer to help lead the evolution of a highly scalable distributed data platform powering large-scale enterprise systems. This role is ideal for someone who enjoys solving complex backend and infrastructure challenges, influencing technical strategy, and mentoring engineers while remaining hands‑on with architecture and development.

You’ll work across engineering teams to design and build high-performance distributed systems, scalable data pipelines, and cloud-native services operating at massive scale. This position plays a key role in shaping long‑term platform architecture, improving system reliability and observability, and driving engineering best practices across the organization.

What You’ll Do

• Lead the design and development of scalable backend systems and distributed data platforms
• Architect and optimize high-performance, high-availability cloud-native services
• Build and maintain large-scale ETL and data processing pipelines
• Design APIs, microservices, and service-to-service communication frameworks
• Develop scalable systems for processing large, streaming, and multi-tenant datasets
• Drive technical strategy and influence architecture decisions across teams
• Improve platform observability, monitoring, reliability, and operational performance
• Collaborate closely with engineering leadership, product teams, and stakeholders
• Mentor engineers and contribute to engineering standards and best practices
• Participate in system troubleshooting, root cause analysis, and performance tuning
• Create and maintain technical documentation and architectural standards

What We’re Looking For

• 10+ years of backend or platform engineering experience
• Strong experience building and operating distributed systems at scale
• Deep understanding of microservices architecture and service-oriented design
• Experience with containerized environments using Docker and Kubernetes
• Strong cloud experience with AWS, Azure, or GCP
• Expertise with relational and non-relational databases such as PostgreSQL, MySQL, Cassandra, or Elasticsearch
• Experience designing scalable APIs and backend services using gRPC and Protocol Buffers
• Strong programming experience with Java/Kotlin, Python, C#, or similar backend technologies
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines, automated deployments, and infrastructure automation
• Strong understanding of system design, scalability, security, and observability
• Ability to lead complex technical initiatives while collaborating across multiple teams

Nice to Have

• Experience working with large-scale data platforms or multi-tenant systems
• Familiarity with feature flags and release toggle strategies
• Experience evaluating or integrating third-party platforms and services
• Experience with service mesh technologies such as Envoy or AWS App Mesh
• Background in highly regulated or enterprise-scale environments
• Familiarity with Agile development practices

What’s Offered

• Opportunity to work on highly complex distributed systems and platform challenges
• Strong engineering culture focused on collaboration, scalability, and innovation
• High‑impact role with influence on technical direction and architecture
• Growth opportunities within a fast-moving engineering organization
• Flexible and collaborative work environment

Must be able to work in the UK without any sponsorship!