Principal Software Engineer

Sydney CBD (Office-based) | Full-time

WHO WE ARE?

Founded in 2013, Scape Australia is a market leader in Purpose‑Built Student Accommodation, creating award‑winning environments where students don’t just live, they thrive. Today, we provide a place to call home for more than 19,500 residents across Australia. In every location and every building, our commitment to intuitive design and intelligent service keeps our students, team members, guests, and the planet at the heart of everything we do.

As of 2024, we’ve evolved into The Living Company; a vertically integrated living platform managing $17B in assets across Student Living (Scape), Rent‑to‑Live Affordable Housing (RTL Co.), and Retirement Living (Aveo).

THE ROLE 

We’re looking for a Principal Software Engineer to lead our engineering capability and shape the next chapter of our digital journey.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role where you’ll set architectural direction while building in-house web and mobile applications that power the student living experience.

Responsibilities:

• Architect the Vision: Define and drive the technical strategy and architecture for our custom mobile (iOS/Android) and web applications, ensuring scalability, security, and performance (and tight integration into our Salesforce backend).
• Lead with Code: Remain hands-on, writing high-leverage code for critical components and setting the standard for code quality, testing, and documentation.
• Mobile & Web Mastery: Lead the design and implementation of responsive web interfaces and intuitive mobile experiences that redefine student living.
• Guide & Mentor: Foster a culture of technical excellence. Mentor the team and lift technical capability through coaching and code reviews
• Innovate In-House: Move us beyond off-the-shelf solutions. Evaluate and select the right modern tech stacks to build bespoke solutions that offer a competitive advantage.
• DevOps & Automation: Champion modern CI/CD practices and cloud-native infrastructure to ensure our delivery pipeline is fast, reliable, and automated.
• New ways of working: Champion new ways of writing and deploying code like coding and deployment assistants.

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE

• 8+ years’ experience delivering complex, custom software products
• Expert full-stack skills (React/Vue/Angular; Node/Python/Go), ideally with Salesforce integration
• Proven delivery of mobile apps (native, React Native, or Flutter) to app stores
• Strong experience across AWS/Azure/GCP, including serverless, containers, and microservices
• Solid API design (REST/GraphQL), event-driven systems, and SQL/NoSQL databases
• Ability to shape technical direction and lead through influence, not hierarchy
• Experience mentoring and growing engineering teams onshore and offshore

WHY SHOULD YOU JOIN?

• Be part of a purpose-led organisation shaping how our next generation lives
• Exposure to a large, diversified living platform with real scale and complexity
• Strong focus on wellbeing, growth, and inclusive culture
• Competitive rewards, recognition programs, and lifestyle benefits

INTERESTED? HERE'S HOW TO APPLY

If this sounds like your next career move, we’d love to hear from you. Apply now with your CV and 1-page cover letter!

Please note that we will review applications and contact candidates on a rolling basis. The earlier you apply for this opportunity, the better!  

No agencies please. 

At Scape and The Living Company we honour and welcome our rich heritage and contributions of First Nations and Indigenous peoples. Our workplace embraces diversity and strives to create an inclusive environment that respects and values your culture, traditions, and perspectives. Join us in building a harmonious and empowered community where everyone's voice is heard and celebrated.