Apply Digital is hybrid/remote friendly. The preferred candidate should be based in Canada working in hours that align to EST or PST.

Apply Digital is an organization transforming possibilities for people. We solve complex problems with well-executed digital solutions that make people's lives easier and help our clients compete.

OVERVIEW:

The Principal Engineer is accountable for the quality and timely completion of a project’s technical deliverables. This is a technical leadership role that comprises aspects of software engineering, system architecture and team management. It is envisioned that the Principal Engineer would oversee the delivery of 1-2 projects.

While the Principal Engineer may specialize in a particular area of software development, they strive to become “polyglot” technologists. A broad understanding of front-end, back-end, mobile, dev-ops and testing techniques assists the Tech Lead in proposing effective solutions and facilitating communication and collaboration amongst the team. The Principal Software Engineer writes enough code to keep their skills current and relevant. This can vary between 25-50% code development based on the project.

The Principal Engineer understands that software development at times can be a challenging and stressful process. They promote a calm, positive, supportive and solution-oriented atmosphere within the team.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• The Principal Engineer works with their Lead/Head to define the architecture and technology stack for a project. While the Principal Engineer may be responsible for the initial design of the solution, they recognize that architecture evolves over time and that other team members may have contributions to make.
• The Principal Engineer ensures that documentation remains up to date so that the team can understand how the various components of the solution interact.
• The Principal Engineer works with the project manager to ensure that the tech team is appropriately resourced and allocated, that work is being delegated effectively, and that technical artifacts are being delivered with quality and efficiency.
• The Principal Engineer works with the product manager and the QA team to create a project test plan. This plan should identify the range of platforms, browsers and devices that need to be tested. It should document any requirements for accessibility, load, performance, integration and security testing. It may also include details regarding the classification and resolution of defects that arise during the QA process.
• The Principal Engineer is responsible for identifying and mitigating any security concerns in order to minimize liability for Apply Digital and the client organization.
• The Principal Engineer acts as a single point of contact for the client in all technical matters.
• The Principal Engineer is responsible for helping team members remove technical blockers that are identified during a project’s daily stand-up meetings. Where time permits, they provide mentorship and guidance to the engineers and QA analysts on their team.
• The Principal Engineer works with the project manager to identify risks to the timely delivery of the project. These may include technical, staffing, scoping and client management risks. Where possible, the Principal Engineer looks to mitigate risk in their decision-making. They may undertake technical spikes or proof of concepts.
• The Principal Engineer works with the project manager to schedule code freezes, product releases, deployments and user acceptance testing.
• The Principal Engineer encourages an Agile delivery model, whereby the features offering the greatest business value are delivered to the client early in the project’s development cycle. The Principal Engineer works with the product and project managers to understand business requirements and prioritize stories accordingly.
• The Principal Engineer understands, attends and contributes to a project’s Scrum rituals and ceremonies.
• The Principal Engineer escalates to the project manager if stories do not meet the accepted definition of ready. This definition may vary from one project to the next. Generally, stories should have detailed acceptance criteria, should be testable, should have a solid design direction, should be estimated by the team, and should be deliverable within a single sprint.
• The Principal Engineer champions craftsmanship. They set up code analysis tools, linting tools, peer reviews, and other processes to help achieve this goal. Code should be efficient, maintainable, tested, and properly documented. The Principal Engineer should encourage software development principles such as DRY and SOLID.
• The Principal Engineer is responsible for selecting and documenting a suitable code branching model. They should ensure that the team understands this model. Version control setup and documentation should be completed by the end of sprint zero.
• The Principal Engineer is responsible for ensuring a CI/CD pipeline has been set up to facilitate efficient delivery and testing of new features. This work should generally be completed by the end of sprint zero.
• The Principal Engineer is responsible for identifying, documenting and provisioning development, testing, staging and production environments. Deployments should be automated and repeatable without side effects.
• The Principal Engineer promotes collective ownership of the codebase amongst the tech team. They democratize knowledge so that any member of the team can jump in to resolve problems that arise over the course of a project.
• The Principal Engineer works with the project manager to identify, document and resolve technical debt that has been accrued by a project.
• The Principal Engineer should be a proponent for the user - identifying opportunities to improve the user experience wherever possible.
• In early design phases, the Principal Engineer provides input on both the feasibility of a design (or interaction) and the relative level of effort required to deliver it. The Principal Engineer may work closely with UX or UI teams to balance product vision with technical, resource or timeline constraints as development moves forward.
• The Principal Engineer stays on top of the latest developments in their area of expertise and contributes to standardization initiatives within the company.
• The Principal Engineer conducts technical interviews

• The Principal Engineer will be expected to provide meaningful and actionable feedback about the team members they work with. They are not expected to provide this feedback directly to a given team member, but should be able to share it with a given team member’s manager.

LIFE AT APPLY

• Educational opportunities across the entire company, and within your area of expertise
• Robust Medical, Optical, Dental, and Extended Health Benefits plan
• Regular team and company events (curling, karaoke, escape rooms, and more!)
• Flexible vacation policy
• Regular team and company meals
• Growth in your role alongside the company’s growth

ABOUT APPLY

We are an innovation, products, and experiences company. Digital to our core, we are purpose-built to transform possibilities for people. We solve complex problems with well-executed solutions tailor-made for continuous growth — we're ambitious and our clients are too. We work with well-funded start-ups, global brands, and Fortune 1000 companies spanning industries and audiences, including EA, Moderna, and Realtor.com.

www.applydigital.com