Principal Software Engineer (Modernization & Architecture)

Principal Software Engineer:
(Modernization & Architecture)

We are looking for a highly experienced Principal Software Engineer to work on one of our core web applications. For years, our dedicated engineering team has successfully built and scaled a robust, monolithic application using .NET and AngularJS that drives a core area of our business. As we prepare for our next phase of growth, we are looking for a technical leader to take responsibility for the development and maintenance of the application, while also engaging with other senior leaders to work on the modularization and modernisation of the application.

In this role, you will not just be writing code; you will be a primary driver of technical change. You will assist with the transition from a monolithic structure to a modern, modular system, establish automation to existing CI/CD pipelines, and pioneer automated testing. Equally important, you will serve as a mentor and coach to our existing engineering team, upskilling them on modern development practices in a collaborative, blameless environment.

The role requires an engineer who learns extremely quickly and is confident and comfortable reading, understanding and extending unfamiliar, complex systems.

Responsibilities

• Drive Modernization Strategy: Become a primary participant in designing and executing a pragmatic roadmap to gradually dismantle our .NET monolith and migrate our legacy AngularJS frontend to a modern framework (e.g., modern Angular, React, or Vue) using iterative patterns like the Strangler Fig.

• Feature Development & Stability: While planning the future, you will actively work to extend the existing .NET application, solving complex business problems and ensuring the stability, performance and scalability of our current core platform.

• Establish CI/CD & DevOps Practices: Build and maintain automation in existing pipelines, transitioning the team to a true continuous delivery.

• Pioneer Test Automation: Introduce and champion a culture of testing. You will write the foundational unit, integration, and end-to-end tests, establish testing frameworks, and create templates for the rest of the team to follow.

• Mentorship & Upskilling: Act as a technical coach. Through pair programming, constructive code reviews, and architecture workshops, you will help our existing engineers transition their skill sets to modern paradigms.

Requirements

• Extensive Backend Experience: 15+ years of software engineering experience, with deep, hands-on expertise in C# and the .NET ecosystem. You understand the intricacies of legacy .NET Frameworks and modern .NET Core/.NET 5+.

• Architectural Pragmatism: Proven experience refactoring large monolithic web applications into modular architectures or microservices without disrupting ongoing business operations.

• CI/CD Proficiency: Hands-on experience configuring deployment pipelines using tools like Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, AWS CodePipeline, or similar.

• Testing Champion: Deep knowledge of testing strategies and frameworks (e.g., xUnit, NUnit, Cypress, Playwright, or Jest). You know how to introduce testing into an untested codebase.

• Excellent EQ & Communication: You possess the empathy and patience required to teach others. You can clearly articulate the why behind technical decisions and build consensus rather than dictating rules.

Skillwell is an equal opportunity employer. We will extend opportunities and benefits to employees without regard to race, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or veterans’ status. This policy confirms Skillwell commitment to fair employment.