Senior Software Developer / Architect - Technology Vendor

Keen to join a company that champions growth and development?

Join a profitable, founder-led network technology company with over 25 years of experience delivering network appliance solutions to customers in more than 160 countries. The organisation is entering a new phase of growth, modernising its engineering platform, rebuilding its technical capabilities, and embracing AI-assisted development to shape the future of its products.

As a Senior Developer / Software Architect, you will lead the architectural direction of an established global product portfolio while driving new platform development. Working within a small, highly experienced engineering team, you'll have significant influence over product strategy, engineering standards, AI adoption, and the long-term evolution of the organisation's network technology platform.

Ready to make a move? Get in touch and apply today!

Responsibilities:

• Own and drive software architecture decisions across the full product range, established systems and greenfield development, ensuring choices are pragmatic, forward-looking, and right-sized for a globally deployed SME
• Assess the current architecture and establish a clear, documented architectural vision for the next generation of the platform
• Produce and maintain system diagrams, component maps, API contracts, data models, and technical specifications that enable the engineering team to build with clarity and confidence
• Define and champion the team's AI-assisted development approach, selecting and embedding tools such as Claude Code, Cursor, or GitHub Copilot into day-to-day engineering practice
• Lead architectural decision-making on all major new development, ensuring decisions are documented and understood across the team
• Translate complex technical architecture into clear roadmaps and conversations for engineers, leadership, and external partners
• Contribute to product strategy, including evaluating new software opportunities in EdTech and adjacent verticals, bringing architectural and technical feasibility perspective

Skills / Must Have:

• Experience: Significant experience architecting and shipping production software systems, operating at Senior Architect, Principal Engineer, Lead Architect, Technical Director, or CTO level
• Core Tech / Domain: Strong understanding of Linux and server environments, APIs, distributed systems, and databases; full-stack awareness spanning back-end (Python preferred; C/C++/Rust a bonus), front-end web technologies, and network services (DNS, DHCP, HTTP/S)
• Methodology / Protocols: Fluency in architectural documentation, C4, UML, ERDs, sequence diagrams, and written specifications that engineering teams actually use; demonstrable, hands-on experience using AI coding tools as a genuine force-multiplier in real development work; understanding of agentic AI systems and LLM orchestration
• Soft Skills: Excellent communicator who can translate technical architecture for non-technical stakeholders; intellectually direct and honest; comfortable managing ambiguity, competing constraints, and rapid change without losing clarity or momentum

Desirable Skills:

• Experience in education technology or government / public sector software
• Background in network appliance development, DNS, DHCP, caching, or proxy systems
• Experience building or advising early-stage software products
• Comfort with fractional or portfolio working arrangements

Benefits:

• Remote-first working with some in-person time at the company's Midlands HQ
• Performance incentives on top of base salary
• High autonomy and direct access to the leadership team
• Real influence over engineering culture, tooling strategy, and product direction as the team grows

Salary:

• £60,000–£85,000 (dependent on experience) + performance incentives