Principal Software Engineer, Backend - Full or Part Time

Auto Trader

About Autotrader You’ve probably heard of Autotrader, but do you know what we’re all about?   We’re the UK’s leading automotive marketplace, a heritage brand, and a tech darling of the stock market. We bring together vehicle buyers and sellers to give them real choices. Cars may be what we're best known for but we’re also the place for pretty much everything else on wheels, from e-bikes to caravans.  In the automotive world, change is a constant, that’s why we take our job of untangling the complex car-buying journey very seriously.    At our core, we’re all about people. We go our own way while embracing diversity and celebrating our differences. We dedicate ourselves to the idea that we work better together.  Autotrader is a beautiful, surprising and vibrant place to work. We might not be for everyone, but we could be perfect for you.  About the role As a Principal Software Engineer, you will play a key role in evolving the in-app experience for the UK’s #1 car buying app. The Autotrader app has been downloaded over 23 million times and consistently serves over 3 million monthly users, maintaining leading ratings of 4.8/5 on the App Store and 4.7/5 on Google Play. While our core focus remains on the consumer experience, our mobile apps team are currently instrumental in transitioning Autotrader into a platform where consumers can buy vehicles entirely online.  We’ve evolved beyond traditional native development approaches by adopting a Server-driven UI architecture. Our team has developed a custom client-side framework that dynamically renders data, context, and layout configurations served up from a federated backend REST API. In this role, you will provide technical leadership for this platform, driving architectural scalability, performance, and long-term maintainability across our mobile applications.  We’re a close-knit tech community where collaboration and knowledge sharing are at the core of what we do. Regular pair programming, code reviews, and stand-ups ensure that our engineers stay connected and aligned. As a Principal Engineer, you’ll play a visible, strategic role in driving system design and architecture decisions, mentoring team members, and helping our teams deliver high-quality solutions at scale for one of the UK's most used digital products.   WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR * You should be comfortable with the fact that most of your development time will be spent working on our backend Kotlin services to maintain and evolve our server-driven UI framework.  * Proven experience with Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP), Gradle, and Spring Boot.  * Experience building and supporting mobile applications; proficient user of the development toolset on at least one of these platforms (Swift, Xcode, and Instruments for iOS; Kotlin, Jetpack, Android Studio for Android).  * Strong understanding of unit testing, RESTful API design, and a commitment to refactoring and regression test automation.  * Experience mentoring and coaching engineers, with a proven ability to share technical expertise and advocate best practices across a team.   BENEFITS AND MORE We’re offering a salary of £60,000 – £80,000, plus an additional 10% of your salary awarded to you in shares each year. These awarded shares will become yours in yearly instalments over the next three years, and you can choose to either sell them or keep them as shares. And you'll receive 28 days holiday, plus bank holidays and comprehensive private medical cover.  That’s not all. You'll be enrolled in our pension scheme, where our standard contributions are 7% and employee contributions are 5%. We also have comprehensive private medical cover, enhanced family leave provisions, a car salary sacrifice scheme, share-save options, and much more.   We always want to give you the support you need and help prioritise your wellbeing, that’s why we provide access to 24/7 online GP and dentist, as well as specialist support for assisted fertility, gender dysphoria, menopause, period care plans and lots more.   On top of all that, our hybrid model, Connected Working, combines the best of both worlds – office and home working. You'll spend a minimum of 3 days a week in the office with your team, focused on collaboration and connection. Additionally, we have our remote-first periods at set times during summer and winter. During these periods, you can work remotely anywhere in the UK and from certain locations abroad. Discover more about our hiring process and explore our Engineering Blog. #LI-EC1 #LI-Hybrid

Auto Trader

About us You've probably heard of Autotrader, but do you know what we're all about? We're the most trusted, most visited automotive marketplace in the UK. A heritage brand and a tech innovator. We bring together vehicle buyers and sellers to give them real choices. Cars may be what we're best known for but we’re also the place for pretty much everything else on wheels, from e-bikes to caravans.  In the automotive world, change is a constant, that’s why we take our job of untangling the complex car-buying journey very seriously.    At our core, we’re all about people. We go our own way while embracing diversity and celebrating our differences. We dedicate ourselves to the idea that we work better together.  Autotrader is a beautiful, surprising and vibrant place to work. We might not be for everyone, but we could be perfect for you.  About the job We’re looking for Principal Full Stack Engineers to join us! Our technology teams combine a diverse set of technologies to meet the needs of our users, handling millions of requests a day across over 600 systems. We build these systems with industry standard frameworks and tools, such as React and Angular on the front end and Java, Spring Boot, Cloud SQL and Apache Kafka on the back end. All of this runs on our cutting edge cloud delivery platform, facilitating over 60k releases to production a year. We’re a close-knit tech community where collaboration and knowledge sharing are at the core of what we do. Regular pair programming, code reviews, and stand-ups ensure that our engineers stay connected and aligned. As a Principal Engineer, you’ll play a visible, strategic role in driving system design and architecture decisions, mentoring team members, and helping our teams deliver high-quality solutions at scale. You might think that "Autotrader" means we’re looking for car enthusiasts, but that’s not the case. We’re looking for people who are passionate about technology, thrive in a collaborative environment, and have a genuine curiosity about solving complex problems. What we’re looking for: * Strong experience working across the stack, from designing scalable back-end systems to developing responsive front-end applications * You should be comfortable working with Java, Spring Boot and the Java ecosystem / JVM * Ability to architect and design complex, distributed systems that are scalable, maintainable, and performant * Experience with modern front-end technologies (e.g., React or Angular, TypeScript/Modern JavaScript), along with proficiency in building RESTful APIs and web services. * Strong knowledge of relational databases (SQL), along with experience working with document-based storage solutions (e.g., MongoDB) * Experience with Kafka or other event-driven architectures * A structured approach to development and testing (including Test-Driven Development) with a focus on continuous delivery and automation * Proven experience leading and mentoring teams, helping others grow technically while delivering high-impact projects During our application process, you will be asked two questions to help us learn more about you and how you align with our values. These will be used as part of our selection criteria, to determine if we progress your application further Benefits We’re offering a salary of £60,000 – £80,000, plus an additional 10% of your salary awarded to you in shares each year. These awarded shares will become yours in yearly instalments over the next three years, and you can choose to either sell them or keep them as shares. And you'll receive 28 days holiday, plus bank holidays and comprehensive private medical cover.  That’s not all. You'll be enrolled in our pension scheme, where our standard contributions are 7% and employee contributions are 5%. We also have comprehensive private medical cover, enhanced family leave provisions, a car salary sacrifice scheme, share-save options, and much more.   We always want to give you the support you need and help prioritise your wellbeing, that’s why we provide access to 24/7 online GP and dentist, as well as specialist support for assisted fertility, gender dysphoria, menopause, period care plans and lots more.   On top of all that, our hybrid model, Connected Working, combines the best of both worlds – office and home working. You'll spend a minimum of 3 days a week in the office with your team, focused on collaboration and connection. Additionally, we have our remote-first periods at set times during summer and winter. During these periods, you can work remotely anywhere in the UK and from certain locations abroad. Discover more about our hiring process and explore our Engineering Blog. #LI-CI1 #LI-Hybrid

Gram Games

Who We Are: Gram Games is the studio behind popular titles like 1010!, Six!, Merge Dragons!, and Merge Magic!, with more exciting projects in the pipeline. We are proudly part of the Zynga & Take-Two Interactive family. We do things differently here: we work in small self-managing teams, giving you an incredible amount of ownership, autonomy, and impact.  At Gram, everyone is expected to have a razor-sharp focus on creating a tangible impact on their team, their work environment, and on the overall company strategy. If you are motivated by autonomy, constant improvement, collaboration, and a sense of belonging, this is the place for you. POSITION OVERVIEW: As a Principal Software Engineer, you will lead the architecture and development of highly advanced software systems. You will provide strategic technical direction, mentor senior engineers, and ensure that software solutions meet business and technical requirements. WHAT YOU’LL DO: * Define architectural standards and frameworks for software development. * Own the development of critical systems that require high reliability. * Be involved in developing technical roadmaps and attend planning sessions. * Evaluate and embrace new technologies to solve business needs. * Support the engineering team in developing skills and promoting teamwork. * Monitor project timelines and work progress to ensure quality. * Provide technical leadership and mentorship to software developers. * Ensure the technical feasibility and prioritization of new game features. WHAT YOU BRING: * Strong experience in software development, with a proven track record of delivering high-quality, scalable systems. * Proficiency in C# with essential knowledge of Unity. * Proficiency in client-backend integrations. * Strong understanding of software architecture and design principles. * Excellent problem-solving skills, with the ability to break down complex technical challenges. * Dedication to maintaining code quality through code reviews and alignment with industry standards CI/CD Processes. * Having a very strong understanding of Git and code repository management. * Ability to analyze product code and propose improvement solutions for better performance. * Familiarity with game development and understanding of the gaming industry. * A hands-on management style, with involvement in end-to-end process tracking. * Excellent communication and leadership abilities. * Skill in coordinating with other teams leads to synchronising the development processes. * Understand general business concepts to interpret critical metrics for the business/product (such as DAU, ARPDAU, etc.). * Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in Computer Science or a related field. WHAT WE OFFER YOU: In return for bringing your expertise to this top-priority role, we offer some of the best benefits in the gaming industry. * Highly competitive salary * Private medical care * Company bonus scheme * Relocation assistance for those moving to the UK * Awesome onsite chef serving breakfast, lunch, and lots of treats (naughty and nice) * Life insurance and a favorable pension scheme * Healthcare cash plan including dental and optical coverage * Amazing tech to work with and consoles to play and relax with everywhere you look #LI-Hybrid We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer, which means we are committed to creating and celebrating diverse thoughts, cultures, and backgrounds throughout our organization.  Employment with us is based on substantive ability, objective qualifications, and work ethic – not an individual’s race, creed, color, religion, sex or gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin or ancestry, alienage or citizenship status, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, status as a victim of domestic violence or sex offenses, reproductive health decision, or any other characteristics protected by applicable law. As an equal opportunity employer, we are committed to providing the necessary support and accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities, health conditions, or impairments (subject to any local qualifying requirements) to ensure their full participation in the job application or interview process. Please contact us at jobs@gram.gs to request any accommodations or for support related to your application for an open position. Please be aware that Zynga does not conduct job interviews or make job offers over third-party messaging apps such as Telegram, WhatsApp, or others.  Zynga also does not engage in any financial exchanges during the recruitment or onboarding process, and will never ask a candidate for their personal or financial information over an app or other unofficial chat channel.  Any attempt to do so may be the result of a scamp or phishing attack, and you should not engage.  Zynga’s  in-house recruitment team will only contact individuals through their official Company email addresses (i.e., via a zynga.com, take2games.com, naturalmotion.com, smallgiantgames.com, themavens.com, gram.gs email domain).