Principal Software Engineer

Arvionservices; Christchurch; On-site; NZD 180,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual salary reviews

KiwiSaver contributions

Healthcare coverage

ESPP discount program

Volunteer day

Office refreshments

Job summary

Arvionservices is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to join a global fintech organization focused on cross-border payments technology. This senior individual contributor role requires hands-on leadership to drive complex initiatives, influence technical strategy, and modernize large-scale platforms.

The ideal candidate brings strong full-stack capabilities, cloud experience (AWS), and familiarity with AI-assisted development.

Qualifications

• Minimum 8 years of experience building and delivering production-grade software applications end-to-end.
• Frontend engineering fundamentals: responsive, accessible, performant, internationalized.
• Strong backend experience, preferably with C#/.NET; other OO languages encouraged.

Responsibilities

• Lead the engineering approach for complex initiatives across the full tech stack.
• Define and drive technical standards, architecture decisions, and best practices.
• Mentor engineers through design reviews and guidance.
• Contribute production-grade code for critical systems.
• Collaborate with Product, Design, Compliance and Engineering to translate business goals into scalable solutions.
• Drive modernization including cloud-native migrations.
• Promote AI-powered development tools and best practices for AI in SDLC.
• Contribute to system architecture, scalability, performance, and operations.

Skills

Frontend frameworks (Vue.js/React)

Backend (C#/.NET)

Cloud & AWS

AI-assisted development

System design & architecture

Mentorship & technical leadership

SQL/Relational DB

CI/CD & modern deployments

Payments domain experience

Tools

GitHub Copilot

Cursor

Claude Code

Jira

Confluence

Job description

Job Overview:

We are seeking an experienced Principal Software Engineer to join a global fintech organization specializing in cross-border payments technology. This is a senior individual contributor role for a hands‑on technical leader who will drive complex engineering initiatives, influence technical strategy across teams, and help modernize large-scale payment platforms. The ideal candidate combines strong full-stack engineering expertise with system design experience, cloud technologies, and AI-assisted software development practices.

What Will You Do:

• Lead the engineering approach for complex, high-impact, and ambiguous technical initiatives across the full technology stack.
• Define and drive technical standards, architecture decisions, and engineering best practices across multiple teams.
• Serve as a technical leader and mentor, elevating engineering capabilities through design reviews, technical guidance, and knowledge sharing.
• Remain hands‑on by contributing production‑grade code for business‑critical systems and services.
• Collaborate closely with Product, Design, Compliance, and Engineering stakeholders to translate business objectives into scalable technical solutions.
• Drive modernization initiatives, including migration from legacy platforms to modern architectures and cloud‑native solutions.
• Champion the adoption of AI-powered development tools and establish best practices for integrating AI throughout the software development lifecycle.
• Contribute to system architecture, platform scalability, performance optimization, and operational excellence.

What Makes You a Good Fit:

• Minimum 8 years of experience building and delivering production‑grade software applications end-to‑end.
• Strong frontend development experience using modern frameworks such as Vue.js, React, or similar technologies.
• Strong backend development experience, preferably with C#/.NET; candidates with expertise in Java, Kotlin, Go, or other object‑oriented languages are also encouraged to apply.
• Solid understanding of frontend engineering fundamentals, including responsive design, accessibility, performance optimization, and internationalization.
• Strong knowledge of SQL and relational database systems.
• Deep expertise in software architecture, system design, microservices, service‑oriented architecture, and event‑driven systems.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex, cross‑functional technical initiatives as an individual contributor.
• Proven ability to mentor and develop engineers through technical leadership rather than direct people management.
• Extensive hands‑on experience using AI‑assisted development tools such as GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Claude Code, or similar platforms.
• Strong experience with AWS cloud services and modern deployment practices, including CI/CD pipelines and services such as SQS, DynamoDB, S3, ECS, and Lambda.
• Experience working within payments, financial services, foreign exchange, or other regulated industries.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.

Nice To Have:

• Experience leading large‑scale platform modernization or migration initiatives.
• Experience establishing engineering standards and technical strategies across multiple teams.
• Experience with caching technologies such as Redis or Memcached.
• Familiarity with project management and collaboration tools such as Jira and Confluence.
• Experience leveraging AI tools for automated testing and software quality assurance.

What We Offer:

• Competitive remuneration package with annual salary reviews.
• Paid birthday leave.
• Additional annual leave entitlement based on years of service (up to 5 extra days).
• Employer KiwiSaver contributions on top of base salary.
• Comprehensive healthcare coverage.
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) at discounted rates.
• Paid volunteering day to support a charity of your choice.
• Complimentary office refreshments, including fruit, snacks, beverages, and coffee.
• Access to mental health and wellbeing support resources.
• Opportunity to work with a global fintech organization on innovative payment technologies.

Working Arrangement:

• Hybrid working arrangement.
• Out stationed candidates must be willing to travel to the Christchurch office as required for company meetings, collaboration sessions, and events.
• Opportunity to collaborate with global engineering teams across multiple regions.