Principal Software Engineer - Repeats

Principal Engineer - Repeats Team

Hybrid in London or Remote within the UK

We’re hiring a Principal Engineer

Lead the technical evolution of our core decision-making systems in a hands-on Principal Engineer role that balances architectural design, people management, and shipping critical code.

The company

Imagine a world where every small business has the power to thrive. That's the world we're building at iwoca. Small businesses aren't just statistics – they're the heartbeat of our communities, the character of our high streets, and the engine of our economy. Since 2012, we've revolutionised how these businesses access finance, turning what was once a lengthy, frustrating process into something remarkable: funding that's fast, flexible, and actually works for modern businesses.

Our impact speaks for itself: we've provided billions in funding to over 150,000 businesses across Europe, making us one of the continent's leading fintech innovators. But we're just getting started. Our mission? To empower one million businesses with the financial tools they deserve.

We combine cutting-edge technology and data science with genuine human understanding to make finance feel less like a barrier and more like a superpower. Whether a business is managing cash flow or seizing unexpected opportunities, we ensure they get the funds they need – often within minutes.

The team

The Repeats team manages the lending strategy and digital user experience of our recurring customers. They own all the product decisions that occur after a customer has taken their first funding. This includes the user journey for repeat customers, the eligibility, and document requirements for repeat applications, the offer terms (such as offered amount or pricing), among other things. The team continuously experiments with new product ideas and ensures these are delivered through an intuitive, high-performing digital experience. It has all the skills it needs to deliver this, including engineering, product, data, and design working together to align the strategy with customers needs and business goals.

The role

As the Principal Engineer in the Repeats team, you will guide both the technical architecture and the engineers responsible for its delivery. You will lead the design and development of systems that intelligently route existing customers to the most appropriate credit assessment process and the most appropriate offer terms, based on their unique profile and needs. This means moving beyond static rules to build scalable, adaptive systems that integrate real-time data and business logic. This is a hands-on leadership role, from ideas to delivery with a focus on the long term, where you will manage the team's engineers, own the technical roadmap, and actively contribute to the codebase.

Architectural ownership and impact:

• Own the technical road map for the Repeats team, re-architecting the team’s code to meet ambitious and dynamic challenges. This includes supporting a transition from rules-based to models-driven strategies.
• Lead the evolution of our system architecture to optimise customer journeys and enhance decision-making and offer generation processes.
• Collaborate with Principal Engineers in other teams to design and deliver a coherent system, with support from org-wide teams like a DevOps team.

Hands-on delivery and project leadership:

• Be an active, hands-on contributor to the codebase, leading by example in quality, testing, and performance.
• Drive the technical strategy and execution for the Repeats team’s projects, translating product goals into well-architected, production-ready code.
• Proactively identify and resolve technical debt and production issues, ensuring the long-term health and stability of the systems you own.

Team leadership and management:

• You will be the direct line manager for three engineers, responsible for their performance, coaching, and career development.
• You will define and champion engineering best practices and standards, both within your team and as a senior leader in the wider engineering group.

The requirements

Essential:

• Expertise in systems architecture, including designing and managing complex domain models.
• Advanced proficiency in software development using an object-oriented language.
• Experience delivering and operating live customer-facing systems in a production environment.
• Experience leading a team of engineers, including line management. Excel at balancing hands-on coding and project delivery with strategic planning, while developing the engineers you manage.
• Product-focused mindset, with experience working with stakeholders such as Product and Strategy to turn unclear business problems into clear, actionable technical solutions.
• Pragmatism in making high-stakes technical decisions, weighing trade-offs and explaining the impact on customers, timelines, and business goals.
• Clear, concise written and verbal communication, prioritising the most relevant information and focusing on outcomes and impact.

Bonus:

• Experience with Python, Django, or PostgreSQL.
• Familiarity with data analytics or machine learning processes.
• Experience with complex data architectures, including event-sourced data models.
• Numerical or technical background, ideally with a degree in maths, physics, computer science, engineering, or a related field.
• Front-end development experience.

The salary

We expect to pay from £100,000 - £160,000 for this role. But, we’re open-minded, so definitely include your salary goals with your application. We routinely benchmark salaries against market rates and run quarterly performance and salary reviews.