Description review
Principal Software Engineer - Product Platforms
AlphaSense · UK · back to the listing
HR standards
55/100
needs work
Title ↔ description
87/100
strong
Reads as
Backend Engineer
100% confident
What this role officially is
software developer — ESCO, the EU occupation classification
Software developers implement or program all kinds of software systems based on specifications and designs by using programming languages, tools, and platforms.
Also known as: application developer, application programmer, solutions developer, programmer, software specialist, application software developer
How others title the same work
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What the listing never says
- 24 bullet points. Long requirement lists deter qualified candidates, who read them as hard gates. Scope clarity
- No pay range published. Candidates cannot tell whether applying is worth their time. Pay transparency
- No location or timezone policy stated, so a candidate cannot tell where they may work from. Scope clarity
The listing, marked up
Nothing in the wording of this listing tripped a check. The scores above still judge how complete and coherent it is.
About AlphaSense:
AlphaSense is the AI platform redefining market intelligence and workflow orchestration, trusted by thousands of leading organizations to drive faster, more confident decisions in business and finance. The platform combines domain-specific AI with a vast content universe of over 500 million premium business documents — including equity research, earnings calls, expert interviews, filings, news, and internal proprietary content. Purpose-built for speed, accuracy, and enterprise-grade security, AlphaSense helps teams extract critical insights, uncover market-moving trends, and automate complex workflows with high-quality outputs. With AI solutions like Generative Search, Generative Grid, and Deep Research, AlphaSense delivers the clarity and depth professionals need to navigate complexity and obtain accurate, real-time information quickly. For more information, visit www.alpha-sense.com. Come join us.
About the Role:
We’re looking for a Principal Software Engineer to help define and build shared, API-first product platforms at AlphaSense that power multiple product surfaces, integrations, and agentic workflows.
In this role, you’ll focus on building platforms as products: well-designed APIs, clear contracts, strong reliability guarantees, and a roadmap driven by real product needs. These platforms are consumed by internal product teams, external integrations, including AI agents.
This role sits at the intersection of hands-on engineering and cross-product technical leadership. You’ll stay close to the code while shaping how product platforms are designed, evolved, and adopted across the company. You’ll also work across multiple teams and domains, helping to align long-term technical direction while still owning end-to-end systems. This is not a people-management role, nor is it a purely advisory architecture role. We’re explicitly looking for a Principal who enjoys building, prototyping, iterating, and solving complex problems in production.
What You’ll Do:
• Act as a technical owner and force multiplier for API-first architecture across the company
• Design, build, and evolve high-scale APIs used by internal teams, external customers, and intelligent agents
• Lead the development of agentic workflows, including orchestration, state management, tooling, and integration patterns
• Drive API standards, design principles, and best practices through hands-on work and technical reviews
• Tackle complex cross-team problems where requirements are ambiguous, and constraints are real
• Partner with Product, Platform, and SRE teams to ensure APIs are reliable, observable, secure, and scalable
• Identify and reduce systemic technical risks while enabling teams to move faster
• Mentor senior engineers and raise the technical bar through example, not hierarchy
Who you are:
• Extensive experience as a senior staff/principal-level software engineer working on applications and backend systems
• Experience building product platforms or shared services consumed by multiple product teams
• Proven track record of designing, building, and operating APIs at scale
• Strong hands-on experience with RESTful APIs
• Some experience with GraphQL (design, usage, or operating in production)
• Deep understanding of system design, performance, reliability, and evolution over time
• Strong bias toward hands-on contribution and ownership of real systems
• Ability to influence technical direction across teams through credibility and execution
Nice to have:
• Experience building or enabling agentic or AI-driven workflows
• Familiarity with MCP (Model Context Protocol) or similar agent integration patterns
• Experience working in large-scale, distributed systems environments
• Exposure to API governance, versioning strategies, and backward compatibility at scale
• Experience working closely with the platform and SRE teams
AlphaSense is an equal-opportunity employer. We are committed to a work environment that supports, inspires, and respects all individuals. All employees share in the responsibility for fulfilling AlphaSense’s commitment to equal employment opportunity. AlphaSense does not discriminate against any employee or applicant on the basis of race, color, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, religion, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, military or veteran status, disability, or any other non-merit factor. This policy applies to every aspect of employment at AlphaSense, including recruitment, hiring, training, advancement, and termination.
In addition, it is the policy of AlphaSense to provide reasonable accommodation to qualified employees who have protected disabilities to the extent required by applicable laws, regulations, and ordinances where a particular employee works.
Recruiting Scams and Fraud
We at AlphaSense have been made aware of fraudulent job postings and individuals impersonating AlphaSense recruiters. These scams may involve fake job offers, requests for sensitive personal information, or demands for payment. Please note:
• AlphaSense never asks candidates to pay for job applications, equipment, or training.
• All official communications will come from an @alpha-sense.com email address.
• If you’re unsure about a job posting or recruiter, verify it on our Careers page.
If you believe you’ve been targeted by a scam or have any doubts regarding the authenticity of any job listing purportedly from or on behalf of AlphaSense please contact us. Your security and trust matter to us.
AlphaSense is the AI platform redefining market intelligence and workflow orchestration, trusted by thousands of leading organizations to drive faster, more confident decisions in business and finance. The platform combines domain-specific AI with a vast content universe of over 500 million premium business documents — including equity research, earnings calls, expert interviews, filings, news, and internal proprietary content. Purpose-built for speed, accuracy, and enterprise-grade security, AlphaSense helps teams extract critical insights, uncover market-moving trends, and automate complex workflows with high-quality outputs. With AI solutions like Generative Search, Generative Grid, and Deep Research, AlphaSense delivers the clarity and depth professionals need to navigate complexity and obtain accurate, real-time information quickly. For more information, visit www.alpha-sense.com. Come join us.
About the Role:
We’re looking for a Principal Software Engineer to help define and build shared, API-first product platforms at AlphaSense that power multiple product surfaces, integrations, and agentic workflows.
In this role, you’ll focus on building platforms as products: well-designed APIs, clear contracts, strong reliability guarantees, and a roadmap driven by real product needs. These platforms are consumed by internal product teams, external integrations, including AI agents.
This role sits at the intersection of hands-on engineering and cross-product technical leadership. You’ll stay close to the code while shaping how product platforms are designed, evolved, and adopted across the company. You’ll also work across multiple teams and domains, helping to align long-term technical direction while still owning end-to-end systems. This is not a people-management role, nor is it a purely advisory architecture role. We’re explicitly looking for a Principal who enjoys building, prototyping, iterating, and solving complex problems in production.
What You’ll Do:
• Act as a technical owner and force multiplier for API-first architecture across the company
• Design, build, and evolve high-scale APIs used by internal teams, external customers, and intelligent agents
• Lead the development of agentic workflows, including orchestration, state management, tooling, and integration patterns
• Drive API standards, design principles, and best practices through hands-on work and technical reviews
• Tackle complex cross-team problems where requirements are ambiguous, and constraints are real
• Partner with Product, Platform, and SRE teams to ensure APIs are reliable, observable, secure, and scalable
• Identify and reduce systemic technical risks while enabling teams to move faster
• Mentor senior engineers and raise the technical bar through example, not hierarchy
Who you are:
• Extensive experience as a senior staff/principal-level software engineer working on applications and backend systems
• Experience building product platforms or shared services consumed by multiple product teams
• Proven track record of designing, building, and operating APIs at scale
• Strong hands-on experience with RESTful APIs
• Some experience with GraphQL (design, usage, or operating in production)
• Deep understanding of system design, performance, reliability, and evolution over time
• Strong bias toward hands-on contribution and ownership of real systems
• Ability to influence technical direction across teams through credibility and execution
Nice to have:
• Experience building or enabling agentic or AI-driven workflows
• Familiarity with MCP (Model Context Protocol) or similar agent integration patterns
• Experience working in large-scale, distributed systems environments
• Exposure to API governance, versioning strategies, and backward compatibility at scale
• Experience working closely with the platform and SRE teams
AlphaSense is an equal-opportunity employer. We are committed to a work environment that supports, inspires, and respects all individuals. All employees share in the responsibility for fulfilling AlphaSense’s commitment to equal employment opportunity. AlphaSense does not discriminate against any employee or applicant on the basis of race, color, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, religion, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, military or veteran status, disability, or any other non-merit factor. This policy applies to every aspect of employment at AlphaSense, including recruitment, hiring, training, advancement, and termination.
In addition, it is the policy of AlphaSense to provide reasonable accommodation to qualified employees who have protected disabilities to the extent required by applicable laws, regulations, and ordinances where a particular employee works.
Recruiting Scams and Fraud
We at AlphaSense have been made aware of fraudulent job postings and individuals impersonating AlphaSense recruiters. These scams may involve fake job offers, requests for sensitive personal information, or demands for payment. Please note:
• AlphaSense never asks candidates to pay for job applications, equipment, or training.
• All official communications will come from an @alpha-sense.com email address.
• If you’re unsure about a job posting or recruiter, verify it on our Careers page.
If you believe you’ve been targeted by a scam or have any doubts regarding the authenticity of any job listing purportedly from or on behalf of AlphaSense please contact us. Your security and trust matter to us.