---
title: 'Principal Software Development Engineer at GoCardless'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/principal-software-development-engineer-gocardless-lisbon-v4m1aaew389t'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-12'
---

# Principal Software Development Engineer at GoCardless

- **Company:** GoCardless
- **Location:** Lisbon, Portugal
- **Posted:** 2026-08-19
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-12
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/gocardless/jobs/8124747

## Job description

## About us

GoCardless is a global bank payment company. Over 100,000 businesses, from start-ups to household names, use GoCardless to collect, manage and send bank payments through Direct Debit, real-time payments and open banking. With US$130bn+ processed annually across 30+ countries, we handle recurring and one-off payments without the chasing, stress, or expensive fees. Our end-to-end payment platform also features AI-powered solutions to improve payment success and reduce fraud, alongside connections to over 350 platforms businesses use everyday.

We are headquartered in the UK, with teams and operations spanning North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

Engineering at GoCardless

The technical challenges of building GoCardless span from simplifying building banking schemes to optimising the time to render the dashboard.

You will enjoy being a Principal Software Engineer at GoCardless if:

- You’re looking to champion a great engineering culture within GC and in the wider engineering community;
- You enjoy collaborating and learning from people from various backgrounds and experiences;
- You want to feel proud of the work you’re doing and its impact on real customers.

Our engineers contribute to the engineering culture within and outside of GoCardless: they contribute to Open Source Software projects (see our[Github](http://github.com/gocardless)), and share learnings in[post-mortems](https://gocardless.com/blog/service-outage-on-6-april-2018-post-mortem-results/), conferences and on[our blog](https://gocardless.com/blog/debugging-the-postgres-query-planner/).

Our technologies: We endeavour to build simple, reliable systems and we believe in using the best technologies for each task.

Technologies we use across GoCardless include: Ruby on Rails, Golang, Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, React, Postgres, BigQuery, Kubernetes, Elasticsearch, Prometheus, Google Cloud (GCP).

## The role

This is a new role based in Lisbon, created to strengthen the technical leadership within the Global Growth group. In this role you will:

- Own the architecture of our dashboard platform and the design system used across the company
- Bring technical depth to de-risks our highest-impact initiatives
- Act as a technical multiplier for engineers across multiple teams — all while staying hands-on enough to lead the hardest problems yourself.
- Report into engineering leadership for Global Growth and work alongside engineering managers in the group and Principal Engineers across the company.

What excites you

- Proactive Leadership: You don't wait to be asked - you identify problems, develop options, and drive solutions. When you need help, you explicitly ask for it. You spot issues and either fix them or bring options to leadership
- Empowered Decision-Making: You're ready to own technical decisions across multiple teams and escalate blocking issues effectively. This role has real authority and mandate, not just influence
- Systems Thinking: You can see across the entire domain, understand interdependencies, and make architectural decisions that balance immediate needs with long-term flexibility
- Executive Communication: You communicate using metrics and data to support your recommendations, and you're comfortable presenting technical strategies to executives and working with senior stakeholders

What excites us

- Full-stack engineering background with deep front-end architecture experience and strong, hands-on back-end expertise
- Track record operating as a senior technical leader across multiple teams: setting direction, mentoring other engineers, and being trusted by both engineers and senior stakeholders.
- Collaboration — we work together across different parts of the organisation to achieve the best outcome possible
- Pragmatism — we balance quality and time to delivery differently depending on the situation and business need
- Strong communication skills — you can explain a technical trade-off to a non-technical stakeholder as easily as you can to another engineer.

We don’t expect you to meet every requirement. If you’re excited by this role, we encourage you to apply.

Base salary range: € 80,000 -  € 120,000

Base salary ranges are based on role, job level, location, and market data.  Please note that whilst we strive to offer competitive compensation, our approach is to pay between the minimum and the mid-point of the pay range until performance can be assessed in role. Offers will take into account level of experience, interview assessment, budgets and parity between you and fellow employees at GoCardless doing similar work. (some of) The good stuff

- Wellbeing - stay healthy with dedicated support and medical cover
- Work away scheme - gives you the option to work away from your country of residence for up to 90 days in any 12 month period
- Adaptive Working - allows you to work flexibly, around your lifestyle
- Parental leave - to suit everyone embarking on life's great adventure
- Learning Budget - lead your own development with an annual learning budget
- Time off - generous holiday allowance, + 3 annual volunteer days, + 4 annual business-wide wellness days (‘GC Fridays’)

Life at GoCardless

We're an organisation defined by our [values](https://gocardless.com/g/values-operating-principles/); We start with why before we begin any project, to ensure it’s aligned with our mission. We act with integrity, always. We care deeply about what we do and we know it's essential that we be humble whilst we do it. Working this way creates the GC magic- the reason we all love showing up to work.

Diversity & Inclusion

As of April 2025, we had 806 employees (GeeCees) globally, with 524 based in the UK, 163 based in Latvia and 119 across our other offices.

To ensure that we're representative of the world around us - and to be able to review relevant benchmarks - we ask GeeCees to voluntarily disclose diversity data. This year, the proportion of GeeCees providing data increased to 88% (up from 79% in 2024). With regards to diversity within GoCardless, we can see GeeCees identifying as:

Asian, Black, Mixed or Other — 25%

Neurodiverse — 9%

## LGBTQIA+ — 9%

Disabled — 1%

Average age — 33

Female — 45%

Male —  55%

We’re rooting for you during your application and GoCardless aims to provide reasonable adjustments to make our recruitment process as remarkable and accessible as we can. Please speak to your Talent Partner if you need extra support.

If you want to learn more, you can read about our Employee Resource Groups and objectives [here](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://gocardless.com/about/careers/&sa=D&source=calendar&ust=1781014616204220&usg=AOvVaw1DeqgyeRfEwEzecwn4oq3j)

Sustainability

We’re committed to reducing our impact on the environment, leaving a more sustainable world for future generations. Check out our sustainability [action plan](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://gocardless.com/sustainability/&sa=D&source=calendar&ust=1781014616204220&usg=AOvVaw0OQGUkwNEPbDW9lQb1uiAd) here.

Find out more about Life at GoCardless via [Twitter](http://twitter.com/GoCardlessEng), [Instagram](http://instagram.com/lifeatgocardless) and [LinkedIn](http://linkedin.com/company/gocardless).

## About GoCardless

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: GoCardless is a British fintech company building the world’s first global bank payment network, enabling businesses to collect recurring payments, process Direct Debits, and access open banking data.
- **Entity Type**: Private (owned by Mollie B.V.; last funding round: Series F, total funding $634.4M)
- **Headquarters**: London, United Kingdom
- **Founded**: 2011
- **Founders**: Hiroki Takeuchi, Tom Blomfield, Matt Robinson

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Fintech / Payments
- **Target customers**: B2B – from small businesses to enterprises, across multiple industries (subscriptions, invoices, charities, lending, etc.)
- **Mission / Purpose**: Make payments easier for everyone – faster, cheaper, and more secure – by leveraging bank payments and open banking.

## Products & Services
- **Direct Debit Payment Processing**: SaaS platform for setting up and managing recurring payments, subscriptions, and invoices via Direct Debit.
- **Open Banking API**: Securely access bank account data (from 2,300+ banks across UK and Europe) to enhance products and manage risk.
- **Payment Gateway**: A unified solution for collecting domestic and international bank payments without chasing or expensive fees.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available (last known valuation from 2019 Series F ~$440M; current ownership by Mollie B.V. suggests a private valuation)
- **Key Metric**: Annual revenue of ~GBP70.4M (2024 estimate from LinkedIn); total funding $634.4M; processes $130B in transactions per year.
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Parent company Mollie B.V. (Dutch fintech); integrations with 350+ business software including Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, Zuora, Salesforce.
- **Growth Signals**: Used by 100,000+ businesses; operates in 12 countries (including Latvia, France, Portugal, US, Australia); headcount of 671 (+1% YoY); opened new headquarters in Riga.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Global bank payment network** – the only platform combining Direct Debit and open banking on a single network, reducing costs and friction.
- **Strong integrations ecosystem** – 350+ pre-built integrations with leading accounting, CRM, and subscription platforms.
- **Regulatory moat** – expertise in local Direct Debit schemes (Bacs, SEPA, ACH) and open banking standards across multiple markets.
- **Award-winning support** – dedicated human support teams for all customers.

## Strategic Focus
- **Global expansion** – building the first truly global bank payment network, with recent push into the US, Australia, and Europe.
- **Open banking innovation** – leveraging real-time data and payment initiation to offer new products (e.g., Payment Intelligence, fraud prevention).
- **Sustainability** – committed to tackling climate change, enhancing biodiversity, and becoming carbon neutral (GoCarbonless initiative).
- **Diversity & Inclusion** – set a target of 40% female representation in senior management by 2028 (currently 27% due to structural changes).

## Why Work Here
- **Hybrid working model** – flexible blend of office and remote work; generous holiday allowance, annual volunteer days, 4 wellness days per year (“GC Fridays”).
- **Wellbeing & benefits** – mental health support, comprehensive healthcare cover, pay range transparency (salaries shared on job adverts).
- **Learning & development** – ingrained culture of learning, with support for career growth and ownership of your development.
- **Diversity & inclusion** – active employee resource groups (Access, BEAM, Pride, Mindful, Inspiring), signed Women in Finance Charter, annual D&I report.
- **Award-winning workplace** – recognised for sustainability, culture, and innovation; offices in London, Riga, Lisbon, Leeds, and more.

## Sources
1. [gocardless.com/about/careers](https://gocardless.com/about/careers)
2. [gocardless.com/about](https://gocardless.com/about)
3. [au.linkedin.com/company/gocardless](https://au.linkedin.com/company/gocardless)
4. [gocardless.com/about/diversity-inclusion](https://gocardless.com/about/diversity-inclusion)
5. [job-boards.greenhouse.io/gocardless](http://job-boards.greenhouse.io/gocardless)

## Other roles at GoCardless

- [Customer Success Manager I, UK & ireland](https://feeny.ai/job/customer-success-manager-i-uk-ireland-gocardless-leeds-yeq3nezfxbvw) — Leeds, United Kingdom
- [Customer Success Manager II, UK & ireland](https://feeny.ai/job/customer-success-manager-ii-uk-ireland-gocardless-leeds-zdnkn4wf99h6) — Leeds, United Kingdom
- [Salesforce Developer](https://feeny.ai/job/salesforce-developer-gocardless-riga-rb5w57d55xy6) — Riga, Latvia
- [Junior Data Analyst](https://feeny.ai/job/junior-data-analyst-gocardless-riga-qq8kwtmkwtqz) — Riga, Latvia
- [Legal Counsel, Spanish - speaking](https://feeny.ai/job/legal-counsel-spanish-speaking-gocardless-leeds-vz5kmcbaj9vn) — Leeds, United Kingdom
- [Legal Counsel, Spanish - speaking](https://feeny.ai/job/legal-counsel-spanish-speaking-gocardless-lisbon-k6ry4pkwbx9n) — Lisbon, Portugal
- [Partnerships Marketing Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/partnerships-marketing-manager-gocardless-leeds-yngf4s48cegv) — Leeds, United Kingdom
- [Threat and Analytics Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/threat-and-analytics-lead-gocardless-lisbon-6k63ggqh0tpp) — Lisbon, Portugal
- [Product Manager III](https://feeny.ai/job/product-manager-iii-gocardless-lisbon-mtyqf17ja1ac) — Lisbon, Portugal
- [Account Executive, Emerging, UK&I](https://feeny.ai/job/account-executive-emerging-uk-i-gocardless-leeds-9kpm3vd0ajcj) — Leeds, United Kingdom