Principal / Software Engineer, Developer Productivity & Services Programme

GovTech Singapore; Singapore; On-site; SGD 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible work arrangements

Employee wellness programs

Leave benefits

Job summary

GovTech Singapore is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to lead architecture and technical leadership to drive high-scale systems. This role demands a passion for creating impactful solutions in the public sector and mastery in software architecture.

You will write optimized, production-ready code while mentoring engineers and aligning technical goals with business needs. GovTech values workplace inclusivity, competitive benefits, and flexible work arrangements.

Qualifications

• Deep expertise in software architecture and system design.
• History of delivering reliable and scalable solutions.
• Ability to communicate complex ideas clearly.

Responsibilities

• Drive architecture and technical leadership for high-scale systems.
• Write optimized, production-ready code for complex subsystems.
• Mentor and coach engineers while fostering a culture of learning.

Job description

GovTech is the lead agency driving Singapore’s Smart Nation initiatives and public sector digital transformation. As the Centre of Excellence for Infocomm Technology and Smart Systems (ICT & SS), GovTech develops the Singapore Government’s capabilities in Data Science & Artificial Intelligence, Application Development, Smart City Technology, Digital Infrastructure, and Cybersecurity.

What you will be working on

GovTech Developer Productivity & Services Programme is at the heart of how the Singapore Government builds software. We run the tools and platforms that thousands of government developers rely on every day, from tool discovery via Government Developer Portals and CLIs, to AI-assisted and AI-native development and validations with AI Coding Assistants, agents skills, CI/CD orchestrations, to data‑driven insights and analysis on developer productivity, to friction‑less previews and deployments with Containers and Kubernetes‑based platforms. On top of just the tools our programme provide, our Central Product Marketplace enables agencies to Discover, Evaluate, Subscribe, Bill and Operate all GovTech Products from a single platform.

Principal Software Engineer – Responsibilities

• Drive Architecture & Technical Leadership
  • Design & Scale: Own the architectural vision and technical roadmap for critical, high‑scale systems, ensuring they are secure, reliable, and future‑proof.
  • Technical Governance: Establish, champion, and enforce engineering standards, best practices, and design patterns across the platform.
  • Innovation & R&D: Evaluate emerging technologies, frameworks, and methodologies, conducting proof‑of‑concepts (PoCs) to strategically introduce them into our programme.
• Participate in Platform Execution & Delivery
  • Lead by Example: Write clean, highly optimized, and production‑ready code for our most complex, mission‑critical subsystems.
  • Problem Solving: Act as the ultimate escalation point for the trickiest technical challenges, debugging deep systemic issues that span across multiple teams.
  • Pragmatic Delivery: Balance technical debt with product velocity, making smart trade‑offs that keep the business moving without sacrificing long‑term stability.
• Lead Collaboration & Mentorship
  • Cross‑Functional Alignment: Work closely with Product, Design, Security, and Data teams to ensure technical solutions align perfectly with business and user needs.
  • Talent Multiplier: Mentor and coach senior and staff engineers, fostering a culture of continuous learning, psychological safety, and high engineering bar.
  • Influence: Communicate complex technical concepts clearly to non‑technical stakeholders, building consensus across organizational boundaries.

What we are looking for

• Impact‑Driven: Passionate about making a meaningful difference, especially in the public sector.
• Strategic and Visionary Leader: Skilled at aligning technical goals with broader organisational objectives. Your long‑term vision fosters innovation across multiple domains.
• Master of Complex, Large‑Scale Systems: Deep expertise in software architecture and system design, with a history of delivering reliable and scalable solutions.
• Technical Authority and Mentor: Renowned for your technical judgment and your ability to coach engineers, interviewers, and leaders to continuously raise standards.
• Exceptional Communicator and Collaborator: Able to convey complex ideas clearly to both technical and non‑technical audiences, and unite teams towards shared goals.
• Proactive Innovator: Eager to evolve the platform to enhance engineering capability and ensure future readiness.

What we offer you

GovTech is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an inclusive workplace that values diverse voices and perspectives, as we believe that diversity is the foundation to innovation.

Our employee benefits are based on a total rewards approach, offering a holistic and market‑competitive suite of perks. These include leave benefits to meet your work‑life needs and employee wellness programs. We champion flexible work arrangements (subject to your job role) and trust that you will manage your own time to deliver your best, wherever you are, and whatever works best for you.