Turnitin, LLC
Principal Software Engineer Backend Technologies, Platform (UK Remote)
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Principal Software Engineer Backend Technologies, Platform (UK Remote)
Job Title: Principal Backend Engineer
About Turnitin
When you join Turnitin, you'll be welcomed into a company that is a recognized innovator in global education. For over 25 years, Turnitin has partnered with educators and institutions to develop learning integrity solutions that recognize the enduring value of critical thinking in a rapidly changing world.
Company Impact
- Over 16,000 academic institutions, publishers, and corporations use our services in more than 185 countries.
- Key solutions: Turnitin Feedback Studio, Clarity, Originality, Gradescope, ExamSoft, Similarity, and iThenticate.
Company Values
Protecting the value of an authentic education is at the heart of our mission. Experience a remote-first culture that empowers you to collaborate and thrive, supported by a package focused on overall well-being. Unified by a shared desire to make a difference in education, our diverse community of colleagues operates across 35+ countries (USA, Mexico, UK, Australia, Japan, India, Philippines, and beyond).
About the Role
Turnitin is seeking a Principal Backend Engineer with expertise in backend development, Java, and serverless architectures, along with a appreciate for front-end contributions.
This role is ideal for engineers passionate about:
- Building scalable distributed systems,
- Data modeling,
- High-performance, reliable software solutions for our award-winning educational platform.
Team: A full hands-on role requiring active involvement in coding, development, and implementation. This position will also involve mentoring junior engineers and collaborating within multidisciplinary teams.
Responsibilities
- Lead and design scalable backend services using Java and serverless technologies (e.g., AWS Lambda).
- Develop and optimize RESTful APIs and event-driven systems for high-performance and distributed applications.
- Provide technical leadership, fostering alignment with architectural standards and best practices.
- Contribute to user-facing frontend integration, ensuring cohesive cross-platform experiences (when required).
- Analyze and optimize legacy services for scalability, performance, and cost-efficiency.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including Architects, Product Managers, and Engineering Leads.
- Mentor junior developers and foster a culture of continuous learning.
- Oversee CI/CD pipelines, ensuring efficient and reliable software delivery.
- Maintain high code quality standards via peer review, automated testing, and adherence to industry best practices.
- Develop comprehensive documentation for shared components, including usage guidelines and examples.
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Qualifications & Experience
Essential Qualifications, Skills and Knowledge
- Over 10 years of experience in backend development with deep expertise in Java and hands-on experience with serverless frameworks (e.g., AWS Lambda, Google Cloud Functions).
- Deep understanding of frontend technologies, including React and Web Components, with the ability to contribute when necessary.
- Distributed systems knowledge, focused on scalability and data modeling for dynamic applications.
- Experience leading/distributed teams in cross-functional collaboration across regions (e.g., Europe and USA).
- Proficiency in cloud technologies, particularly AWS (Lambda, DynamoDB, API Gateway, SNS/SQS, EventBridge).
- Best practices application, including design patterns, TDD, BDD, and clean code principles.
- Experience implementing CI/CD pipelines with automation.
- Familiarity with DevOps practices and Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC).
- Experience conducting system design reviews and ensuring architectural alignment and scalability.
- Proven track record as a Tech Lead with mentor-isng experience for junior engineers.
- Strong stakeholder communication: translating complex technical concepts to non-technical audiences.
- Cognitive problem-solving with a track record in system performance and optimization.
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Preferred Skills
- Advanced React, Angular, or Web Components proficiency.
- Experience with Observability tools (e.g., CloudWatch, New Relic, Datadog).
- NoSQL data modeling best practices.
- Agile (Scrum, XP, Kanban) familiarity.
- AI/ML experience.
Benefits
Total Rewards @ Turnitin
Beyond competitive base pay, bonuses, or benefits, we emphasize total rewards.
- Intrinsic rewards: Inspirational impact on global education in a bootstrap workplace with applied integrity.
- Extrinsic rewards, including:
- Competitive healthcare options.
- Education reimbursement.
- Generous time-off policies.
- Self-care days, national holidays, paid volunteer days, and charities.
- Monthly wellness/remote reimbursements.
- Parental leave.
- Retirement contributions.
- Access to Frontline (Mental Health support).
For details, requirements vary globally.
Why Apply?
At Turnitin, we welcome 100% perfection in job applications. If you meet most criteria and are eager to learn and grow, join us! #LI-AP1 - Purpose-driven collaboration.
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London
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