Quick Summary
About Xcelirate
Xcelirate develops technologically advanced platforms accessed by thousands of users every minute. We foster a workplace where top developers collaborate to strategically plan and swiftly execute practices, maintaining our market dominance and achieving global expansion. Our success over a decade is attributed to our customers and our talented team.
The Ideal Principal Engineer
We are seeking a principal-level engineer who naturally leads by deeply understanding systems and maintaining clarity under pressure. This role involves people management as an integrated part of engineering work, focusing on hiring, steering, and unblocking with good judgment and minimal ceremony. You are happiest close to the code, driving projects forward, and taking full ownership. You view programming languages as tools, not dogmas, and have a strong intuition for performance, profiling before optimizing. Your system designs are load-bearing, avoiding unnecessary complexity, and built for long-term needs. You will build and lead a team of genuinely curious engineers with sound instincts and humility. Your passion lies in well-reasoned commits and systems that perform flawlessly.
Key Responsibilities
- Manage your own and your team's time while adhering to company priorities.
- Own complex engineering problems end-to-end, from problem framing and design to delivery and iteration.
- Take responsibility for critical platform areas, ensuring reliability, performance, and maintainability.
- Build new features and improve existing ones across our platforms.
- Refactor legacy and modern codebases pragmatically, balancing long-term health with delivery needs.
- Write unit, integration, and end-to-end tests to ensure software reliability.
- Be involved in every phase of the software lifecycle, from ideation to deployment.
- Participate in and sometimes lead deep technical discussions, driving sound decisions and trade-offs.
- Work hands-on across backend and frontend systems, addressing problems wherever they arise.
- Identify inefficiencies and streamline workflows, reducing unnecessary work.
- Collaborate closely with other senior engineers, raising the bar through example.
- Take ownership of your work, ensuring high-quality results and maintainable solutions.
Required Skills & Experience
- 15+ years of hands-on experience building and maintaining complex web applications.
- Direct responsibility for the development and successful release of multiple major projects from inception to production and operation.
- A portfolio demonstrating work on multiple projects for over 2.5 years each.
- Clear technical communication; able to explain and defend design decisions to both senior engineers and non-engineers.
- Expert PHP developer (12+ years); experience with Symfony or equivalent frameworks.
- 10+ years of modern JavaScript; experience with React or Vue (Next/Nuxt a plus).
- Expert-level knowledge in at least one additional programming language (Python a plus).
- Full-stack architecture expertise: monoliths, services, and hybrids.
- Power user experience with cloud deployment and scaling (AWS preferred).
- Expert Linux user; including daily containerized workflows with Docker.
- Expert in infrastructure automation: Terraform, Ansible.
- Power user level CI/CD pipeline and release workflow ownership.
- Experience in automated testing: unit, integration, E2E; TDD where appropriate.
- Expert-level knowledge of web security fundamentals: authentication, authorization, data protection, secure coding.
- Fluency in legacy and modern codebases; ability to perform incremental modernization.
- Strong independent technical ownership and accountability.
We are always looking for the best candidates, so if you think you would be a good fit even if you don't meet 100% of the requirements, we would love to hear from you!
Benefits & Contractor Support
- An annualized rate of €145,000 + retention bonus scheme: Competitive contractor rate with a generous bonus paid every 6 months based on your time with us.
- Top-Notch Workstation: We provide a MacBook or Dell, branded merchandise, and everything you need for an optimal work environment.
- Global Co-Working Access: Work from a global network of co-working spaces to keep your work-life dynamic and flexible.
- Flexibility: Enjoy full flexibility in work location and hours, supporting a work-life balance tailored to your needs.
- Events and Gatherings: Participate in exciting events throughout the year, including team gatherings, cultural events, and other fun activities.