Principal Engineer

Hi 👋 we’re Glean. We make study software that improves your confidence and ability to learn. 

• We’re a SaaS scale up and one of the fastest growing tech companies in the North. 
• There’s 100+ of us around the UK with our HQ in Leeds. 
• Our software is award-winning and used by 100,000s of students at over 800 universities & colleges worldwide. 
• We’re growing so we can achieve our mission to support 1 million students to become better learners by 2026. 

The role of Principal Engineer: 

Glean are looking for a talented, passionate Principal Engineer who wants to be part of a small, beautifully formed, and growing engineering team. We are focused on pragmatic delivery, with quality at the forefront  of everything that we do. We use a mixture of front-end (TypeScript, React), back-end (JVM / Kotlin), and mobile (Flutter) technologies with an automated build pipeline (Kubernetes, Terraform, Helm). We are trusted by the business to own our technology stack and processes, and we repay this trust by delivering consistently. We aspire to be the best engineering team we can be, by constantly asking, "given what we know now, is there anything we should change?".

Meet the team: 

Technology at Glean is a cross-functional function made of Engineering, Product, Product Marketing, User Experience, Customer Experience and Data.  This filters down to our product squads where we have at least one team member from each discipline working together to build the best product for our users and customers.  You’ll be joining one of four stream-aligned squads; BEAR (Buyers, Evaluators, Admins & Resellers), Note-taking (known internally as GOAT), Higher Education Solutions (known internally as Loch HESS)  or Learning (known internally as EGG).  

You’ll be managed by Mala, Head of Engineering. If you want to know more about joining Glean, you can hear from Mala here. 

You’ll work closely with the whole Engineering team, but to give you an idea of who you may meet during the recruitment process - Matt (the other Principal Engineer, enjoys Starcraft and windsurfing), Blake (Senior Engineer, tennis player, drummer), Bruce (Engineering Manager, makes the most of our remote policy, a man with a large vocabulary), Chris (good dog owner, amazingly organised), or Mark (Platform Lead, Nomad policy champion, Glean Pride organiser)

What you’ll be doing: 

As a Principal Engineer your role involves collaborating in a multi-disciplinary squad to build, implement and support software that brings value to our users and customers while aligning to our Engineering Principles. Your responsibilities include: 

Technical Leadership:

• Technical Strategy: Contribute to the overall technical strategy and roadmap for Glean Engineering, aligning technology choices with business goals.
• Architectural Vision: Define and drive the architectural vision for Glean’s systems and platforms, ensuring scalability, performance, and maintainability.
• Technology Evaluation: Research, evaluate, and recommend new technologies and tools to improve existing systems or drive innovation. 

Delivery and Organisational Impact:

• Leading Complex Projects: Lead and oversee complex projects, often involving multiple cross-functional squads and significant technical challenges.
• Driving Innovation: Identify and champion innovative solutions that have a significant impact on Glean’s products.
• Influencing Decisions: Influence technical decisions and direction at a high level, ensuring alignment with broader strategic goals.

Strategic and Leadership Contributions:

• Mentorship and Development: Mentor and develop other engineers, helping them to grow their technical skills and leadership abilities. 
• External Engagement: Represent Glean at conferences, meetups, or other industry events, sharing knowledge and building relationships.
• Thought Leadership: Contribute to the technical community through publications, presentations, or open-source contributions.

About you: 

• Software Crafting: Extensive object-oriented and/or functional programming experience.
• Front-End Technologies: Highly proficient  in HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript frameworks (TypeScript and React).
• Back-End Technologies: Significant experience with Kotlin for server-side development.
• Mobile Development: Proficiency with Flutter framework and dart programming language for mobile applications.
• Databases: Strong knowledge of SQL (PostgreSQL) and NoSQL.
• Testability: Promoting best practices in automated testing, continuous integration, automated deployment, and code quality.
• Collaboration: Actively mentors others, fostering trust, and contributing to a positive team culture.
• Adaptability: Championing continuous learning, developing new skills, and leading by example to advocate for a flexible, team-oriented mindset.
• Communication: Strong skills with "passionate views, loosely held" – articulate ideas clearly but remain open to other perspectives.
• Problem Solving and Debugging: Able to analyse complex technical problems, breaking them down, identifying patterns, and using critical thinking to craft and evaluate solutions with clear trade-offs and collaborative insight.

Not every one of the above is essential, but hopefully it gives an idea of what we find useful day to day. 

💰Salary and benefits:

£80,000- £90,000 dependent upon experience 

🏖️ 33 days annual leave (Inclusive of bank holidays)

🎄 3 gifted days off at Christmas
💰 EMI Share Options Scheme

🎓 Generous individual learning and training allowance 

⌚ Truly flexible hours to suit when you work best 

💻 Full home working set up and beautiful collaborative office space 

🌴 Nomad working policy with family travel insurance 

🍼 Enhanced 26 weeks maternity and 4 weeks paternity (fully paid)

🤍 Health cash plan (from glasses to massages) 

💸 6% employer pension contribution

Location: 

We have a beautiful office space in Leeds and we love it when we get together to collaborate in person. We typically operate a hybrid way of working, however some of our roles support remote working within the UK, if you live more than 50 miles from the office. 

We will discuss ways of working with you at interview however if you have any questions before you apply please reach out to [email removed - click apply for more details] 

💡 What to expect next: 

We’ll review your application and provide a response within 1 week. Even if it’s not the news you’d hoped for, we appreciate it’s good to know either way. 

If we invite you to meet with us for interview, here’s an overview of what the process will look like: 

1. Screening Call with a member of our Recruitment team (30 minutes) 
2. Take-home Technical task (<1 hour 30 minutes) 
3. Technical Interview exploring your technical task with our Principal Engineer and another relevant team member (1 hour 45 minutes) 
4. Architecture Interview with our Principal Engineer and Head of Engineering (1 hour) 
5. Culture and Values Interview with our Head of Engineering and Chief Technology Officer (1 hour) 

Ahead of your interviews you will receive a confirmation email outlining who you’ll be meeting and when, anything you’ll need to prepare in advance and any resources we think you might find helpful.  

👀 Interested in learning more about a career at Glean? 

Here are a few further resources:

About Glean

Glean Tech Blog

Working at Glean Blog

The Glean Study Tool 

💌 Not quite the right role for you however you’d love to be a part of Glean’s journey? 

Let’s connect! Reach out to [email removed - click apply for more details] and we’ll add you to our network, to keep you updated with any future opportunities we think you might be interested in.

📄 Applicant Privacy Notice 

We think it’s important that you understand how we use and handle your personal information, so here’s a link to our privacy notice. By submitting your application, you’re confirming that you’ve read and understood this notice.