Principal Architect

Description

Whitespace, a Verisk business, is a specialist technology company focused on building modern, scalable platforms that support data driven decision making across the insurance and risk markets. As part of Verisk, we combine the agility and innovation of a focused tech business with the scale, stability, and global reach of a leading data analytics organisation.

We are looking for an experienced Principal Architect to play a key role in shaping the future of our technology platforms. This is a senior, hands on architecture role where you will influence technical direction, guide engineering teams, and design robust software systems that support a growing, modern SaaS environment.

You will work closely with engineers, analysts, and senior stakeholders to translate business needs into scalable, secure, and high performing solutions. You will also take ownership of reviewing existing systems, identifying opportunities to simplify, refactor, and improve performance and reusability.

This is an opportunity to have real impact across our platform and help drive architectural excellence across the organisation.

• System Design & Architecture: As a Principal Architect you will lead the design and development of scalable, reliable, and secure software architectures. Translate business requirements into technical solutions that align with company goals and industry best practices.
• Technical Leadership: Provide technical guidance and mentorship to engineers, ensuring adherence to architecture standards and best practices. Lead code reviews, technical discussions, and decision-making processes. Create technical designs for new features to enable work to be distributed across engineers and tracked.
• Collaboration: Work closely with analysts, engineers, and other stakeholders to understand system requirements, constraints, and objectives. Ensure the architecture supports future growth and flexibility. You will be expected to gain a deep understanding of how the Platform works to help steer the best outcomes for new feature delivery.
• Technology Selection: Evaluate and recommend appropriate technologies, frameworks, and tools for software development, ensuring that the system is innovative and cost-effective.
• Quality Assurance: Ensure software designs and implementations follow best practices, coding standards, and appropriate testing methodologies. Guarantee high performance, security, and scalability of the architecture.
• Documentation & Communication: Create clear, comprehensive, and maintainable documentation for system architectures, workflows, and technical specifications. Communicate effectively with non-technical stakeholders to ensure understanding of architectural decisions.
• Continuous Improvement: Stay updated on emerging technologies and industry trends to keep our systems modern and ahead of the competition. Drive innovation and continuous improvement in software architecture and development processes.

• Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field
• Many years of experience in software development at a senior or principal level
• Proven experience designing and delivering complex systems, ideally within a SaaS environment
• Strong, hands on experience with Swift, which is essential for this role
• Experience working with modern languages and frameworks such as Type Script, JavaScript, Node.js, and Angular
• Deep understanding of software architecture principles, patterns, and design methodologies
• Experience with cloud platforms such as Azure, AWS, or GCP
• Strong knowledge of microservices and distributed systems
• Experience with relational and No
  
  SQL databases
• Familiarity with Dev Ops practices including CI/CD, Docker, and Kubernetes
• Experience working in Agile environments
• A strong focus on quality, performance optimisation, and high availability systems