Principal Engineer

<p> Principal Engineer <p> Location: Edinburgh – Hybrid working model, fully remote considered </p><p> SnapDragon is a technology-enabled online brand protection business serving global brands, law firms and IP professionals. We combine proprietary AI-driven detection software with a highly trained, multilingual team of analysts to identify, evidence and remove digital infringements at scale. </p><p> Value to SnapDragon’s global clients is provided through enforcing against illicit products, infringing domains and websites, fake apps, and social media site impersonators. </p><p> SnapDragon defends client reputations and revenues and keeps brands and their consumers safe. We are inquisitive, tech and brand savvy, digital bodyguards. </p><p> </p><p><b> About the Role </b> </p><p> We are looking for a Principal Engineer to join our growing engineering team. This is a high-impact role for someone who thrives in a fast-moving environment, takes genuine ownership of the systems they build, and cares deeply about code quality, reliability, and the people around them. </p><p> You will work across the full stack of our backend platform, from product features with complex business logic to the infrastructure and data pipelines that underpin them. You’ll be a key voice in technical decisions, a mentor to less experienced engineers, and a direct contributor to raising the bar across the team. </p><p> We’re a small, ambitious team and this is a hands-on role. You’ll be expected to contribute directly to the codebase while also shaping the technical direction of the platform. If you’re looking to move away from building, this isn’t the right fit. </p><p> </p><p><b> What You’ll Do </b> </p><ul><li> Design, build, and maintain robust backend services and APIs that serve real business-critical needs. </li><li> Own significant parts of our platform end-to-end, from database schema to deployment pipeline. </li><li> Work closely with stakeholders across the business, translating complex technical concepts into clear, actionable communication. </li><li> Contribute to infrastructure design and maintenance using infrastructure-as-code tooling. </li><li> Help define and uphold engineering standards: code review, testing practices, documentation, and beyond. </li><li> Mentor engineers across the team, sharing knowledge and fostering a culture of continuous improvement. </li><li> Participate actively in agile ceremonies, sprint planning, and iterative delivery. </li></ul><p> </p><p><b> About </b> <b> You </b> </p><p> You’re an <strong> experienced </strong> engineer with: </p><ul><li><strong>7+ years </strong> of professional software engineering experience, with a track record of delivering production systems at scale. </li><li> Strong proficiency in a dynamic programming language such as <strong> Ruby, Python </strong> , or similar, and deep familiarity with a major web framework (<strong> Ruby on Rails </strong> , <strong> Django </strong> , or equivalent). </li><li><strong> Expert-level SQL skills </strong> , with particular depth in <strong> PostgreSQL </strong> , including schema design, query optimisation, and an understanding of what happens under the hood. </li><li> Hands-on experience with <strong> PostgreSQL database administration and management </strong> . You’re comfortable owning a database, not just querying it. </li><li> Experience with <strong> infrastructure as code </strong> . We use <strong> Terraform and Terragrunt </strong> , and we expect you to be comfortable reading, writing, and reviewing infrastructure definitions alongside application code. </li><li> A proven track record building and maintaining <strong> APIs and web applications </strong> that involve non-trivial, real-world business logic. </li><li><strong> Testing is a natural part of how you work </strong> , not an afterthought. You write tests as you build, and you advocate for testable design. </li><li> Experience with <strong> CI/CD pipelines </strong> and the practices that make continuous delivery safe and reliable. </li><li> Familiarity with <strong> asynchronous messaging systems </strong> . You understand the landscape, have worked with at least one in production, and can reason clearly about the trade-offs between different approaches. </li><li> Experience <strong> mentoring engineers </strong> and contributing to the development of engineering culture and standards. </li></ul><p> </p><p><b> Desirable / Stand Out </b> </p><ul><li> Experience working with <strong> data lakes </strong> or large-scale data platforms. </li><li> Exposure to <strong> machine learning </strong> systems, whether building, integrating, or maintaining ML pipelines in production. </li><li> Experience with <strong> container orchestration </strong> : Kubernetes, ECS, or similar cluster management tooling. </li></ul><p> </p><p><b> Location </b> </p><p> Our engineering team is primarily based in <strong> Edinburgh </strong> , and we’d love you to be part of that in person where possible. That said, we’re open to <strong> fully remote candidates </strong> within the UK for the right person, with the expectation of periodic visits to Edinburgh for team time, planning, and collaboration. </p><p><strong> You must have the right to work in the UK. </strong> We are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role. </p><p> </p><p><b> Why SnapDragon? </b> </p><p> You’ll join a friendly, international team based in the centre of Edinburgh with colleagues from France, Japan, Romania, South Korea and beyond – a group known for being supportive, welcoming, and ambitious. SnapDragon is growing and this role presents great opportunities for progression and skill development. </p><p> </p><p><em> We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all backgrounds. </em> </p>