Principal Software Engineer

Principal Software Engineer

Are you passionate about designing scalable, high-performance systems?

Do you thrive on solving complex technical challenges and leading innovative solutions?

We’re building Elsevier’s Internal Developer Portal on Spotify’s Backstage framework—an entry point for all things engineering  mission is to streamline service discovery, documentation, workflow automation, and self-service for thousands of engineers. We’re a cross-functional team partnering with product, UX, platform, and security to deliver a cohesive, high-quality developer experience.

We are seeking an experienced, hands‑on Principal Software Engineer to lead the architecture, development, and adoption of our Backstage platform. You will design and deliver core capabilities and plugins, set engineering standards, and guide teams across Elsevier in how they use and contribute to the portal. This role blends deep technical execution with consulting, stakeholder engagement, and community leadership. You will help define the roadmap, drive platform governance, and create the patterns that make our developer portal reliable, scalable, and delightful to use.

• Owning the technical vision, architecture, and delivery of Backstage platform capabilities, plugins, and backend services.
• Designing and building high‑quality, secure, and maintainable full‑stack Type Script solutions (React/Node.js) within Backstage's monorepo and plugin architecture.
• Defining and upholding engineering standards, patterns, and governance for contributed plugins, templates, and documentation across the platform.
• Partnering with product managers, UX, business analysts, and non‑technical stakeholders to translate needs into clear road, outcomes, and acceptance criteria.
• Mentoring engineers and contributors; conducting design and code reviews; elevating best practices in reliability, security, performance, and accessibility.
• Contributing back to the Backstage open‑source community where appropriate, tracking ecosystem changes, and guiding internal adoption.

• Expert proficiency in Type Script, Node.js, and React; strong command of modern full‑stack patterns, state management, and component design.
• Authentication and authorisation: OAuth/OIDC/SSO, token management, session handling, role‑based access control.
• Testing at multiple layers: unit/integration/e2e (Jest, Cypress).
• Observability and reliability: logging, metrics, tracing, performance profiling, and resilience patterns.
• Experience with containers and cloud‑native delivery (Docker, Kubernetes) and infrastructure‑as‑code patterns.

• Exceptional communication and the ability to interface with non‑technical stakeholders; translate complex technical concepts into clear narratives and decisions.
• Strong product mindset: clarify outcomes, define acceptance criteria, and align solutions with business goals.
• Proven leadership in planning and road mapping; ability to balance strategic investments and near‑term value.
• Mentorship and coaching: elevate team practices through feedback, documentation, and example‑driven leadership.

• Good years of professional software engineering experience, including leadership of complex, multi‑team initiatives.
• BS in Engineering/Computer Science or equivalent experience required; advanced degree preferred.

Join our team and contribute to a culture of innovation, collaboration, and excellence. If you are ready to advance your career and make a significant impact, we encourage you to apply.

We promote a healthy work/life balance across the organisation. We offer an appealing working prospect for our people. With numerous wellbeing initiatives, shared parental leave, study assistance and sabbaticals, we will help you meet your immediate responsibilities and your long‑term goals.

• Working flexible hours - flexing the times when you work in the day to help you fit everything in and work when you are the most productive.

We know that your well‑being and happiness are key to a long and successful career. These are some…