Chief Software Engineer

Chief Software Engineer – Enterprise SaaS Platform

£100,000 – £115,000 + 30% Bonus + Car Allowance

Hybrid – Manchester (2 days per week)

The Opportunity

We are working with a high-growth enterprise SaaS organisation undergoing a major platform evolution, investing heavily in modern engineering to support long-term, large-scale product strategy.

This is a Chief Software Engineer role — a senior technical leadership position sitting above Principal level, focused on shaping the engineering direction of a complex, distributed platform estate.

You will operate as a technical authority across multiple teams, influencing architecture, engineering standards, and long-term platform strategy, while remaining close enough to the technology to guide critical decisions.

This is not a managerial role. It is a pure technical leadership position for someone who wants to define how systems are built at scale.

The Role

As Chief Software Engineer, you will:

• Define and influence engineering strategy across a multi-team SaaS platform
• Own and evolve system architecture for scalability, resilience, and performance
• Act as a technical authority across engineering teams, guiding design decisions and standards
• Partner with Product, Architecture, and Engineering leadership to align technology with business outcomes
• Drive adoption of modern engineering practices, tooling, and cloud-native approaches
• Support and mentor Principal and Lead Engineers, raising the overall technical bar
• Contribute to complex system design, critical problem solving, and high-impact initiatives

Technology Environment

You’ll be working within a modern, cloud-native Microsoft ecosystem, including:

• C# / .NET (latest versions)
• Azure (PaaS, distributed cloud services)
• Event-driven architecture & distributed systems
• Microservices & API-first design
• SQL & data-intensive systems
• CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions or similar)
• Modern front-end technologies (React / TypeScript)

What We’re Looking For

• Experience operating at Principal / Staff / Architect level or above
• Proven track record designing and evolving large-scale SaaS or platform-based systems
• Deep expertise in .NET and cloud-native architecture (Azure preferred)
• Strong experience with distributed systems, event-driven architecture, and system design
• Ability to influence and guide engineering teams without direct line management
• Strong communication skills, able to engage both technical and non-technical stakeholders

Why This Role

• Opportunity to shape the technical direction of a large-scale SaaS platform
• Work on complex, high-impact systems with real scale and business value
• Join a business where engineering is a core strategic priority
• Influence multiple teams and raise engineering standards across the organisation
• Clear pathway into Head of / Director-level technical leadership roles

Package

• £100,000 – £115,000 base salary
• 30% annual bonus
• Car allowance
• Competitive benefits package
• Hybrid working – Manchester (2 days per week)

Final Note

This is a role for someone who wants to operate at the highest level of engineering without stepping away from technology.

If you’re driven by complex systems, architectural ownership, and influencing how platforms are built at scale, this is a rare opportunity to step into a true technical leadership position.