Principal Engineer - Software Platform

About the role

A client of Catch is looking for a Principal Engineer to act as the technical authority for its software platform. The role ensures coherence of technical vision, architecture and implementation across several independent squads, with hands-on coding and as a senior design partner for team leads. It is based in Sandton, with four days a week in the office.

Key responsibilities

• Set technical direction, architecture, standards and guardrails across teams
• Decide on implementation style and stack choices and drive adoption
• Guide platform evolution with evidence-based decisions and ensure consistent patterns across squads
• Provide quality oversight and design partnership to team leads
• Champion test-driven development, code review culture and engineering excellence
• Define standards across the broader technology stack
• Act as right-hand to the Head of Tech, turning business ambition into technical excellence

Required profile

• Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics or a related field with a strong academic record
• 8+ years in software development, shaping how teams build
• 5+ years of hands-on Java in production
• Experience as a senior technical voice across multiple teams, setting architecture and defending decisions
• Practical experience introducing AI-assisted engineering

Required skills

• Hands-on Java in production
• CI/CD pipelines, automated testing and deployment workflows on GitHub
• Test-driven development and modern engineering practices
• Added value: hands-on Salesforce/Apex and Salesforce certifications (Platform Developer I/II, Application Architect, System Architect, Technical Architect)
• Bonus points: penetration testing and security-conscious engineering, front-end development, integration architecture and RESTful API design at scale