Principal Software Engineer (Distributed Systems)

TL;DR

Principal Software Engineer (Distributed Systems): Shaping the systems and standards behind hirify.global’s online audio and video delivery platform, enabling billions of iPlayer streams every year with an accent on leading technical direction, guiding teams in modern engineering practices, and delivering resilient, scalable and secure services within a cloud-native and event-driven architecture. Focus on designing, building and evolving distributed systems, defining engineering standards, and solving complex problems across the software development lifecycle.

Location: Hybrid, London, GBR

Salary: £70,000–£80,000

Company

hirify.global is a public service broadcaster dedicated to informing, educating, and entertaining audiences through online audio and video delivery.

What you will do

• Lead the design and development of high-quality, secure, and scalable distributed services.
• Set and champion engineering standards, modern patterns, and best practices across teams.
• Drive cloud-native development approaches, including automated testing and CI/CD.
• Partner with product, architecture, and engineering teams to shape solutions from inception to production.
• Guide teams through complex problem-solving, troubleshooting, and continuous improvement.
• Mentor and coach engineers, supporting skills development and fostering an engineering culture.

Requirements

• Proficiency in a mainstream object-oriented programming language (e.g., Java, C#, Python).
• Cloud-native development experience, ideally with AWS services such as Lambda, Step Functions, and EventBridge.
• Experience designing and implementing microservices, APIs, and distributed systems.
• Strong understanding of event-driven and message-based architectural patterns.
• Strong knowledge of CI/CD pipelines, automated testing practices (TDD/BDD), and modern engineering approaches.
• Experience integrating software with monitoring, alerting, and security tooling.
• Enjoys helping others grow and fostering a culture of learning and collaboration.

Culture & Benefits

• Flexible 35-hour working week.
• 25 days annual leave with the option to buy an extra 5 days.
• Defined pension scheme.
• Discounted dental, health care, and gym.
• Excellent career and professional development opportunities.
• Support in your working life, including flexible working.