Principal Software Engineer: Architecture & Tech Leadership

Placements24; Waukee (IA); On-site; USD 73,000 - 128,000; Full time

Job summary

Placements24 partners with a leading agritech innovator in Paarl, Western Cape, to recruit a Principal Software Engineer. This senior role drives architectural direction and mentors teams to deliver scalable software solutions from an on-site campus.

The candidate should have 10+ years of software engineering, strong microservices and cloud experience, and a track record of technical leadership in complex systems.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related quantitative field.
• 10+ years of professional software engineering experience with lead/principal responsibilities.
• Expertise in multiple programming languages (e.g., Java, C++, Python, Go).
• Deep understanding of software architecture patterns (microservices, event-driven) and system design.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and architecture of complex software systems and applications.
• Provide technical guidance and mentorship to software engineering teams.
• Define and enforce coding standards, best practices, and development methodologies.
• Collaborate with product management to define technical requirements and roadmaps.
• Write high-quality, maintainable code for critical system components.
• Identify and address technical debt and performance bottlenecks.
• Evaluate and adopt new technologies to improve processes and capabilities.
• Conduct thorough code reviews and drive technical decisions.
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex technical challenges across the stack.

Skills

Java

C++

Python

Go

Distributed systems

Architectural patterns

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

AWS

Azure

GCP

Job description

Placements24 partners with a leading agritech innovator in Paarl, Western Cape, to recruit a Principal Software Engineer. This senior role drives architectural direction and mentors teams to deliver scalable software solutions from an on-site campus.

The candidate should have 10+ years of software engineering, strong microservices and cloud experience, and a track record of technical leadership in complex systems.