Principal Software Engineer

Summary

Join 8th Light, an employee-owned, remote-first software consultancy, as a Principal Software Engineer (Crafter). You will lead complex projects, mentor team members, and contribute to a collaborative environment. This role requires extensive software development experience (10+ years) and expertise in multiple programming languages. You will be responsible for making immediate contributions to projects, leading architecture and design discussions, and managing project roadmaps. 8th Light offers a comprehensive benefits package including flexible PTO, wellness days, parental leave, a UK pension scheme, and an annual learning and development budget.

Requirements

• Show long-term repeated success on a variety of projects, typically over the course of 10+ years
• Be the go-to leader for any software development engagement
• Have a broad and deep range of expertise that allows you to make an immediate impact on projects
• Write production-quality code in Ruby OR Elixir OR Java OR Python OR JavaScript OR TypeScript OR React — preferably two or more languages
• Build high-quality, maintainable software collaboratively, incrementally, and pragmatically
• Build larger features or subsystems
• Use context-appropriate automated testing to inform software design choices and catch bugs
• Debug and refactor pre-existing code to incrementally improve it
• Collaborate with teams using Git, MacOS/Linux, and CI/CD
• Address architecture-level concerns such as scalability, security, reliability, and performance
• Lead projects or teams
• Bring together people from different functions and perspectives in forums that encourage idea sharing, collaboration, and problem solving
• Make thoughtful recommendations and set direction in the face of ambiguity
• Mentor and share knowledge with colleagues
• Actively sought out and effectively given feedback
• Communicated empathically with stakeholders and colleagues
• Collaboratively led stakeholders to balance technical considerations with product and user needs

Responsibilities

• Make immediate contributions to projects, rapidly building trust with clients
• Work pragmatically to balance technology choices while delivering high-quality work within deadlines
• Lead architecture and software design discussions
• Generate new potential solutions to challenges (technical and non-technical) in partnership with team members and clients
• Lead or initiate formal feedback conversations with teams and clients via retrospectives
• Clearly articulating and documenting outcomes and driving forward action items
• Ensure your team has a healthy, prioritized, estimated backlog
• Manage high-level project roadmaps as the team lead for large engagements
• Maintain relationships with client technical leaders
• Regular syncs with the client to provide status updates, and for identifying and evaluating risks and presenting potential solutions
• Serve as a manager or mentor to those on your teams
• Identify and resolve blockers to team progress
• Contribute to 8th Light by serving as a mentor to apprentices, leading or designing workshops internally or for clients, representing 8th Light in the tech community, or supporting our hiring processes

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in infrastructure as code
• Experience in data engineering
• Experience in CI/CD pipelines
• Experience in native mobile development

Benefits

• An annual budget for learning & development
• L&D time allotment of 80+ hours per year
• Flexible PTO
• Wellness days
• 12 weeks of new parent leave available for eligible employee
• UK Pension Scheme, with matching
• Semi annual promotion panel