Principal Architect

MOO set out to shake up the world of print back in 2006. And we’ve come a long way since. Today we’re a 400 + strong team (we’re thinking of getting matching jackets) who create print and digital products for companies of all sizes – from Google and AirBnB to the guy who makes those amazing prints you found at a craft fair.

Our global HQ is in London, UK, while we also have premises in Dagenham. In the US, you’ll find us in Boston, MA, as well as East Providence, RI and Denver, CO and now in Cape Town South Africa!

This role is cross-cutting across Technology & Product, not limited to eCommerce. You’ll partner with Heads of Engineering, Staff Engineers, Product and Platform to define and drive the end-to-end system architecture spanning eCommerce, post‑purchase, manufacturing and data. You’ll be accountable for architectural outcomes, migration strategy and enabling product engineering to ship safely at pace.

* Please Note*

This role will be based in Cape Town, South Africa.

Relocation assistance available for the right candidate

• Proven experience leading large-scale platform or product migrations across multiple teams
• Deep eCommerce or high-volume transactional systems experience (checkout, payments, order management, catalog)
• Expert in domain-driven design, API design, and microservices/event-driven architecture
• Strong breadth: frontend architecture (Next.js, SSR/SSG, CDN/edge) and backend (Node/Java microservices)
• Cloud-native on AWS; comfortable defining requirements and guardrails for platform teams
• Influences without authority; mentors Staff and Senior engineers, raises the bar across org

• You are a seasoned architect and product-minded technologist who leads through influence across multiple teams.
• You’ve led large, multi‑quarter platform migrations or consolidations, and you balance pragmatism with long‑term architectural clarity.
• You are excellent at communication up, down and across, and you turn ambiguity into clear direction.

• Architecture and governance
• Responsibilities:
  Define target architecture, standards and patterns; ensure decisions are captured via ADRs; steward security, privacy and compliance guardrails
• Accountabilities:
  Architectural integrity, reduced complexity over time, safe migration with controlled risk, clear decision trail

• Delivery enablement
• Responsibilities:
  Enable parallel team delivery through well‑designed interfaces and migration patterns; unblock teams with timely guidance and reviews
• Accountabilities:
  On‑time cross‑team delivery of strategic outcomes; fewer blockers; consistent adherence to standards

• Developer experience and reliability
• Responsibilities:
  Partner with Platform to uplift CI/CD, observability, SLOs and incident learning; advocate for fitness functions and paved roads
• Accountabilities:
  Improved flow and stability metrics; faster, safer releases; measurable DX improvements

• People leadership
• Responsibilities:
  Mentor Staff/Senior engineers; run architecture reviews and forums; translate architecture into business impact for executives
• Accountabilities:
  Higher engineering leverage, clearer alignment, stronger technical decision quality across the org

MOO’s the kind of workplace where you can really be yourself. Dye your hair purple. Hit the sofa with your laptop. Whatever helps you feel comfortable and happy  want to help you grow in your career and set you up for success – while also recognising the importance of a healthy work/life balance.

That’s why we offer 19 days holiday rising by one day for each year here (for 5 years), a matched pension scheme, and paid parental leave. We’ll offer you private healthcare and life insurance. We also offer flexible work schedules with hybrid and remote working for certain roles.

We are working hard to create a representative, inclusive and super-friendly team, because we know that different experiences, perspectives and backgrounds make for a better workplace. And that creates a better experience for our customers. MOO doesn’t discriminate on the basis of race, colour, religion or belief, gender, national origin, age, sexual orientation,…