Principal Software Engineer (Java)

TL;DR

Principal Software Engineer (Java): Leading technical strategy and architecture across multiple teams within the scholarly publishing domain with an accent on system modernization, scalability, and resilience. Focus on driving cross-team technical alignment, mentoring engineers, and implementing cloud-native patterns alongside responsible AI integration.

Location: Oxford

Company

hirify.global is a global information analytics company specializing in science and health, partnering with scientific and medical communities for over 140 years.

What you will do

• Lead technical direction and influence architectural strategy across multiple teams and domains.
• Partner with architects and product teams to define service boundaries and integration patterns.
• Contribute hands-on to complex engineering tasks and high-risk system components.
• Drive modernization efforts to reduce technical debt and adopt cloud-native architectures.
• Improve operational excellence through observability, automation, and incident learning.
• Mentor engineers in systems thinking, architecture, and engineering best practices.

Requirements

• Extensive experience operating as a senior or principal engineer across multiple teams.
• Proven ability to influence architectural direction and drive cross-team technical change.
• Strong background in distributed systems, APIs, and event-driven architectures.
• Backend engineering expertise with Java, Spring Boot, and microservices.
• Experience with containerization, CI/CD pipelines, and Infrastructure as Code.
• Hands-on experience with AI-assisted development tools and GenAI concepts.

Culture & Benefits

• Flexible working hours to support work-life balance.
• Wellbeing initiatives and support programs.
• Shared parental leave and study assistance.
• Sabbatical opportunities for long-term career goals.
• Global organization with a focus on advancing scientific knowledge.