Job Title: Principal Engineer / Principal Full Stack Developer
Division: Product / Engineering
Reporting to: Josh Corps, VP Engineering
Location: Hybrid - Dorset with flexible remote working; London office opening shortly.
Role level: Principal Individual Contributor / Hands-on Technical Leadership
Security Requirements: Eligibility for UK Security Clearance (SC) required. Candidates with existing SC or DV clearance are highly desirable.
Job Type: Full-Time
Salary: Not displayed in public adverts.
About Us
KARVE is building Karve OS, a Mission Management Suite for defence, national security and regulated environments. The platform combines mission planning, data integration, workflow orchestration, analytics and graph-based insight. The aim is to build a practical, secure and useful product rather than over-engineered architecture for its own sake.
The Role
We are looking for a hands-on Principal Engineer / Principal Full Stack Developer to help turn Karve OS from prototype into a production-ready product. This role still requires technical leadership, mentoring and system architecture, but the focus is practical product engineering rather than requiring deep expertise in every specialist AWS, graph or security service.
Role Purpose and Context
The Principal Engineer will set pragmatic engineering standards, guide system design, mentor the first engineering pod and remain close to the code. They should be able to move between architecture and implementation, simplify complexity and help the team build secure, maintainable application capability.
Skill Requirements
The intention is to widen the recruitment pool without lowering the bar. Candidates should be strong across the must-have areas; the should-have and bonus areas are differentiators, not blockers.
What You Will Be Doing
• Shape the technical direction for Karve OS without over-engineering the early product.
• Design and build full-stack application capabilities across frontend, backend and APIs.
• Establish coding standards, repository practices, branching approach and release discipline.
• Guide architectural decisions through lightweight technical designs and ADRs where useful.
• Mentor engineers and help them grow into the areas that best suit them as the team scales.
• Work with product, data, security and operational stakeholders to translate complex requirements into usable software.
How We Work
• Pragmatic engineering over unnecessary complexity.
• Strong application delivery, with architecture that serves the product.
• Security, testing and observability considered from the start.
• Clear ownership, collaborative working and lightweight documentation.
• Candidates do not need every tool in the future-state stack; we value strong fundamentals and learning ability.
What Good Looks Like
• A clear, pragmatic application architecture is in place.
• The first engineering pod has practical standards for code, testing, releases and documentation.
• Core product workflows are being delivered without avoidable architectural drift.
• The team has confidence in technical decisions without becoming blocked by process.
Application Process
To apply, submit a CV and a short note outlining your relevant experience and interest in Karve OS. KARVE is committed to equality of opportunity and welcomes qualified candidates from all backgrounds.
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