Principal Software Engineer

NineDots · Recruitment agency
Full-time•Full-stack•€120k-150k/year (EUR)•Ireland
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At a glance

Employment type
Full-time
Location
Ireland
Workplace
On-site
Salary
€120k-150k/year (EUR)
Category
Full-stack

Technologies & skills

Primary technologies

Python

What you'll be doing

As a Principal Software Engineer, you will build systems for complete traceability from source code to deployed artifacts, focusing on supply chain security and artifact traceability. Responsibilities include designing provenance ingestion services, capturing signed metadata, and developing APIs for traceable supply chain data.

  • Designing and building provenance ingestion services for CI/CD systems and artifact registries
  • Capturing and storing signed provenance metadata and artifact relationships
  • Building validation engines to verify cryptographic integrity and trust policies
  • Developing APIs that expose traceable supply chain data to customers and internal systems
  • Solving large-scale ingestion, storage, and query challenges around artifact and pipeline data

Key requirements

Must-have

  • Strong domain knowledge in artifact management and software supply chains
  • Experience working with provenance, attestations, SBOMs, or build metadata
  • Strong backend engineering experience (Python preferred)
  • Experience designing data ingestion pipelines and scalable backend services
  • Familiarity with cloud-native systems and multi-tenant SaaS platforms

Role signals

Technical focus
Full-stack
Architecture / system design
Indicated in the listing
Hands-on vs management
Hands-on

Full job description

You will build systems that give organisations complete traceability from source code to deployed artifact. It's not just where an artifact came from, but how it was built, what went into it, and where it was used downstream.

You will build infrastructure that captures, validates, and exposes build provenance and attestation data across CI/CD pipelines and artifact ecosystems.

You will be given the opportunity to shape how supply chain security and artifact traceability systems are designed from the ground up.

What you’ll work on

  • Designing and building provenance ingestion services for CI/CD systems and artifact registries

  • Capturing and storing signed provenance metadata and artifact relationships

  • Building validation engines to verify cryptographic integrity and trust policies

  • Developing APIs that expose traceable supply chain data to customers and internal systems

  • Solving large-scale ingestion, storage, and query challenges around artifact and pipeline data

What they’re looking for

  • Strong domain knowledge in artifact management and software supply chains

  • Experience working with provenance, attestations, SBOMs, or build metadata

  • Strong backend engineering experience (Python preferred)

  • Experience designing data ingestion pipelines and scalable backend services

  • Familiarity with cloud-native systems and multi-tenant SaaS platforms

If you enjoy building systems that sit at the heart of how software is built, secured, and delivered this is the kind of role that will keep you interested.

Interview prep pack

Grounded in this listing. Use it to prepare examples before you apply.

Your interview focus

Based on this listing, the Principal Software Engineer role centers on designing and building systems for artifact traceability, provenance, and supply chain security, with a strong emphasis on backend engineering and large-scale data challenges.

  • Deep technical expertise in artifact management and provenance·High
  • Ability to design scalable, secure backend systems·High
  • Experience with cloud-native, multi-tenant SaaS platforms·Medium

Only have 30 minutes?

Follow a focused preparation plan based on this job.

Start 30-minute prep

Your 30-minute plan

  1. Review Artifact Management and Traceability Projects

    0–7 min

    List and summarize your most relevant projects involving artifact management, traceability, or supply chain security.

  2. Refresh Knowledge of Provenance and Attestation Standards

    7–13 min

    Study key standards (e.g., SBOM, SLSA, in-toto) and prepare to discuss how you've implemented or integrated them.

  3. Prepare Examples of Scalable Backend and Data Pipeline Design

    13–20 min

    Select 1-2 examples where you designed or improved large-scale ingestion or storage systems, focusing on challenges and outcomes.

  4. Review Cloud-Native and Multi-Tenant SaaS Experience

    20–25 min

    Recall specific instances where you addressed multi-tenancy, security, or cloud-native deployment challenges.

  5. Draft Role-Specific Questions

    25–30 min

    Write down 3-4 thoughtful questions about the team's challenges, technology choices, and opportunities for impact.

Likely questions

, 6 items

Priority reflects how strongly this topic is emphasised in the job listing, not whether it will be asked.

Talking points

, 5 items

  • Artifact Management and Traceability

    Demonstrate your experience with systems that track software artifacts from source to deployment, including how you ensured traceability and integrity.

  • Provenance and Attestation Handling

    Showcase your familiarity with provenance data, SBOMs, and cryptographic attestations, and how you've captured or validated such metadata in past projects.

  • Designing Scalable Data Ingestion Pipelines

    Provide examples of building robust, scalable backend services for ingesting and processing large volumes of data, especially in CI/CD or artifact ecosystems.

  • Cloud-Native and Multi-Tenant SaaS Experience

    Highlight your experience architecting or operating systems in cloud-native environments, particularly those serving multiple tenants securely and efficiently.

  • API Development for Supply Chain Data

    Discuss your approach to designing APIs that expose complex supply chain or artifact data to internal and external consumers.

What to research

, 4 items

  • Artifact Management Systems

    Review your experience with artifact registries, traceability, and related tooling.

  • Provenance and Attestation Standards

    Refresh knowledge of provenance, SBOMs, and cryptographic attestation frameworks relevant to CI/CD.

  • Scalable Backend and Data Pipeline Design

    Prepare examples of designing and operating large-scale ingestion and storage systems.

  • Cloud-Native and Multi-Tenant SaaS Architectures

    Review your experience with cloud-native platforms and strategies for secure multi-tenancy.

Questions to ask

, 6 items
  1. What are the main challenges your team faces with artifact traceability and supply chain security today?

    Why ask this? To understand the current pain points and where your expertise can have the most impact.

  2. Which standards or frameworks (e.g., SLSA, in-toto, SBOM) are most important in your current systems?

    Why ask this? To clarify which technologies and compliance requirements are prioritized.

  3. How is the provenance and attestation data consumed by customers or internal teams?

    Why ask this? To learn about the end-users and use cases for the systems you'll build.

  4. What is the scale of data ingestion and storage you are currently handling?

    Why ask this? To gauge the technical scale and performance expectations.

  5. How does the team approach security and isolation in your multi-tenant SaaS platform?

    Why ask this? To understand the security model and any unique challenges.

  6. What opportunities exist to influence the architecture or technology choices for these systems?

    Why ask this? To assess your potential for technical leadership and impact.

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Apply NowApply before: 26 Oct 2026