Principal Software Engineer

CompanyWave Talent

LocationLondon Area, United Kingdom

Posted At1/19/2026

UK Visa Sponsorship Analytics

Occupation Type

Programmers and software development professionals

Occupation Code Skill LevelHigher Skilled

Sponsorship Salary Threshold

£54,700 (£28.05 per hour)

Occupation rate applies

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Description

I’m supporting an early-stage AI startup building genuinely transformational tooling for some of the most document-heavy industries out there.

They’re now looking for a Staff or Principal Software Engineer who wants to design and ship AI-driven product capabilities end-to-end, from the first customer conversation all the way to production rollout and adoption.

What you’ll be doing

Owning core product components from concept → architecture → build → deployment → customer adoption
Designing scalable systems for data extraction, workflow automation, document analysis and multi-step content generation
Using tools like Cursor, Copilot, and Claude Code to move fast and focus on high-level engineering decisions
Collaborating with customers and internal teams to understand real business problems
Implementing secure-by-default, privacy-first approaches
Staying close to research and continually experimenting with new AI techniques
Mentoring engineers and helping shape engineering best practices

About you

Strong Python engineering background with a track record of shipping real product features

Experience in high-growth, fast-moving environments

Confident designing and maintaining APIs and integrations

Comfortable working end-to-end across architecture, coding, deployment and customer delivery

You think like a product engineer, working in tight loops, understanding the “why,” and focusing on real user value

You use AI coding tools as leverage rather than novelty

Curious, honest, quick to dive deep, and not afraid to challenge assumptions

Strong communicator who can explain complex ideas clearly

Ambitious, resilient, and motivated by solving genuinely tricky problems

What’s on offer

£100k–£150k salary
Meaningful equity
Unlimited annual leave
Enhanced pension
£100 monthly wellbeing budget
£1000 annual L&D budget
Strong parental leave package

This is a hybrid role and the expectation is that you can visit the London office once per week.

Interview process

Short intro call with engineering leadership
Live technical task + deep-dive
In-person culture conversations with the wider team, including founders