Senior Principal Software Engineer; Java

We are looking for a Sr. Principal Engineer to join our team in Manchester, UK.

• Lead the design, delivery, and architecture of platform capabilities powering Anaplan’s enterprise‑scale API gateways, edge routing, and developer acceleration.
• Build and scale high‑throughput backend engines that manage core request orchestration, seamless multi‑tenant isolation, and API‑first solutions serving thousands of tenants and tens of thousands of users.
• Partner with architects and senior engineers across the Platform Experience domain to set technical direction, aligning implementation patterns for complex initiatives such as vanity URLs, JWT auth flows, and cross‑service proxying.
• Drive the evolution of our deployment infrastructure, championing modern Git Ops workflows (ArgoCD, Helm) and highly available containerized orchestration.
• Own foundational features end‑to‑end—from design through to production—while continuously improving system observability, implementing intelligent rate‑limiting, and solving complex concurrency challenges (e.g., database locks and connection starvation).
• Deliver thought leadership and coding excellence across Java/Kotlin, ensuring seamless integration between backend microservices and UI components (including resolving complex CORS and distributed edge proxy requirements).
• Mentor and elevate engineers across global teams through design reviews, pair programming, and hands‑on leadership to foster a resilient engineering culture.

• Extensive background in software engineering within enterprise‑scale, high‑throughput platform or data‑centric environments.
• Deep expertise in backend JVM languages (Java and/or Kotlin) with a strong understanding of distributed systems internals.
• Proven track record of delivering API‑first infrastructures, API gateways (e.g., Traefik), and edge routing solutions that guarantee enterprise reliability under sustained traffic loads (2K+ requests per second).
• Hands‑on experience with Kubernetes, containerized deployments, and managing complex CI/CD pipelines (strong familiarity with Git Ops, ArgoCD, and high‑velocity release workflows).
• Solid grounding in event‑driven architecture, real‑time data processing, and managing complex database transaction scopes at scale.
• Experience balancing rapid prototyping and fast iteration with long‑term sustainability and quality—you have a bias for action and prefer to try and iterate rather than wait for perfect information.
• Exceptional technical communicator with a proven ability to align globally distributed teams; skilled at distilling complex concepts into clear, structured RFCs and architectural designs to build consensus.
• Understanding of and ability to integrate modern AI tools and concepts—including agentic programming patterns and LLM‑assisted workflows—to accelerate platform engineering and developer velocity.

• Shaped architecture and platform strategy at an enterprise scale, navigating the trade‑offs of hybrid and cloud‑agnostic infrastructures.
• Polyglot mindset, evaluating the right technology for each challenge rather than defaulting to a single stack (comfortable exploring React, Python, or Go when needed).
• Genuine curiosity and enthusiasm for learning new technologies and approaches to solve edge routing and platform enablement challenges.
• Enjoy mentoring others and raising the bar for engineering culture without big egos.
• Highly comfortable operating in distributed teams, embracing asynchronous collaboration, and driving consensus across distinct domains.

Anaplan is an equal‑opportunity employer. We are committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging and do not discriminate based on gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, age, neurodiversity, disability status, citizenship, or any other characteristic protected by law.