Principal Developer

• 30/10/25
• North West, Manchester City Centre
• £65k - 75k per year
• Permanent
• Software Engineering
• Full time

Principal Backend Developer 

Manchester (Office-Based)

£65,000 - £75,000 DOE

A well-established and rapidly growing organisation that's leading the way in digital wellbeing and employee support solutions are looking to add a Principal Developer to their talented team. They've built an incredibly successful subscription-based SaaS platform that supports millions of users globally, and they're now investing heavily in scaling their engineering capability.

The role 

This role is ideal for someone who thrives in a collaborative, agile environment and wants to have a genuine impact on the direction of a platform and team. You'll be joining at a formative stage, working alongside talented engineers and leadership to set standards, influence architecture, and deliver scalable, high-quality solutions.

The successful candidate will be a strong technical leader, comfortable making strategic decisions and mentoring others, while remaining hands-on and detail-oriented.

Key responsibilities

• Design and develop new features and backend services to enhance a large-scale SaaS product.

   

• Champion test-driven development (TDD) and mentor others in best practices.

   

• Influence architecture, tooling, and coding standards across teams.

   

• Collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders to deliver high-quality, maintainable solutions.

   

• Evaluate and introduce emerging technologies that can improve efficiency and scalability.

   

• Promote DevOps, CI/CD, and observability practices.

   

• Drive technical excellence and foster a strong engineering culture.

   

   

  Requirements

   

• 10+ years of backend development experience, ideally within SaaS or enterprise environments.

   

• Deep expertise in C# (.NET 6+), SQL Server, Entity Framework, and RESTful/GraphQL APIs.

   

• Strong understanding of OOP, SOLID principles, and design patterns.

   

• Experience with CI/CD pipelines, Azure (or similar cloud platforms), and DevOps practices.

   

• Advanced knowledge of Git and modern version control workflows.

   

• Passionate about code quality, test automation, and software craftsmanship.

   

• Strong communication skills, with the ability to explain complex problems clearly.

   

• Experience mentoring and influencing technical teams.

   

What they're offering

• 25 days' holiday plus bank holidays (increasing with service)
• Day off on your birthday
• Pension scheme with enhanced contributions over time
• Profit share and holiday season bonus
• Private medical insurance (after qualifying period)
• Free on-site gym and regular team socials
• Cycle-to-work and season ticket loan schemes
• Ongoing training and development opportunities

Apply now!

This is a genuinely exciting opportunity to join a forward-thinking business that's investing in technology, people, and culture. You'll have the autonomy to shape technical direction, influence best practice, and help grow a team from the ground up - all while contributing to a product that makes a real difference.