Principal Software Architect - Remote

Principal Software Architect Technology | Dublin (Remote, Ireland)  About the Opportunity Cpl Recruitment is partnering with an innovative, high-growth global SaaS organisation that is transforming how enterprise customers use technology and data to make smarter business decisions.

With an expanding international customer base, the business is continuing to invest heavily in its cloud-native platform, engineering capability, and technical leadership team.

As part of this growth, we are seeking an experienced Principal Software Architect to lead the technical direction of a modern SaaS platform.

This is a genuine 50/50 architecture and hands-on engineering role, ideally suited to someone who enjoys defining technical strategy while remaining actively involved in designing and building scalable software solutions.

Working closely with the CTO and engineering leadership, you'll play a key role in shaping the platform's future while mentoring engineers and driving engineering excellence across the organisation.

The Role This is a senior technical leadership position where you'll influence architectural decisions while remaining close to the code.

You'll work across cloud infrastructure, distributed systems, APIs, data platforms and application architecture, helping engineering teams deliver secure, scalable, high-performing software.

You'll be expected to balance long-term architectural vision with practical engineering, acting as both a technical leader and an experienced software engineer.

Key Responsibilities

Define and drive the technical architecture and long-term technology roadmap for a cloud-native SaaS platform.

Spend approximately 50% of your time contributing hands-on through architecture design, technical implementation, proof of concepts and supporting engineering teams.

Design scalable, resilient microservices and distributed systems capable of supporting continued global growth.

Build and review production-quality software, with Python being the preferred development language.

Guide engineering teams on architecture, coding standards, design patterns and software engineering best practices.

Drive API-first architecture and modern integration approaches across the platform.

Champion cloud-native technologies including Kubernetes, Docker, Infrastructure as Code and CI/CD.

Partner closely with Product, Engineering and executive stakeholders to ensure technical decisions align with business priorities.

Lead architecture reviews and provide technical leadership across major product initiatives.

Promote engineering excellence through mentoring, technical coaching and architectural governance.

Evaluate emerging technologies and introduce innovations that improve platform scalability, security and operational efficiency.

Ensure platform architecture aligns with modern security, compliance and reliability standards.

Requirements

8+ years' experience in Software Engineering, Technical Architecture or Principal Engineering roles.

Proven experience operating as a Principal Software Architect, Principal Engineer, Lead Software Architect or Senior Solution Architect within a SaaS or cloud-native environment.

This is a genuine 50% hands-on role, so recent software engineering experience is essential.

Strong commercial experience developing software using Python (Django experience would be advantageous).

Experience designing and building large-scale distributed systems, microservices and API-driven platforms.

Strong knowledge of AWS, Azure or Google Cloud.

Hands-on experience with Kubernetes, Docker, containerisation and modern DevOps practices.

Experience building CI/CD pipelines, Infrastructure as Code and cloud automation.

Strong understanding of software architecture, application scalability, resilience and engineering best practices.

Experience mentoring engineering teams and influencing technical direction across multiple projects.

Previous experience working within a high-growth or start-up SaaS environment would be highly advantageous.

Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence both technical and non-technical audiences.

Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering or a related discipline.

Must hold Irish or EU citizenship and be based within a commutable distance of Dublin.

What's on Offer Salary of €120,000 – €140,000 Annual performance bonus of 10–15% Equity Pension contribution Private health and dental insurance Fully remote role based in Ireland, with a hybrid model planned once the new Dublin office opens.

Flexible working hours Unlimited annual leave Ongoing professional development and learning opportunities Opportunity to shape the architecture and engineering direction of a globally recognised SaaS platform Collaborative engineering culture where technical leadership remains close to product development and innovation #LI-JM2