About THE ICONIC

Since its inception in 2011, THE ICONIC has established itself as a dominant force in online retail across Australia and New Zealand, specializing in fashion, sports, and lifestyle e-commerce. With over 5 million customers and millions of active sessions daily, our platforms manage significant scale and complexity, processing high volumes of traffic and delivering seamless and inspiring end-to-end customer experience.

THE ICONIC Tech is driven by innovation. As a Principal Software Engineer, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the technical foundation of a business that continues to lead the industry in innovation and customer satisfaction.

The Role

We are seeking an experienced Principal Software Engineer to join our agile engineering team. This is a strategic, hands-on position that combines deep technical expertise with leadership responsibilities. 

Reporting to the Head of Engineering, you will work closely with Lead Software Engineers, Engineering Managers, Product Managers and senior stakeholders to ensure our systems are robust, scalable, and aligned with business objectives. 

Your focus will be on driving technical excellence, tackling the most complex projects, and facilitating large-scale transformation initiatives.

Key responsibilities include:

• Partnering with lead engineers to enforce best practices, elevate team performance, and maintain high engineering standards.
• Collaborating with engineering and product leadership to identify technical risks, resolve blockers, and ensure proactive solutions.
• Leading the design and implementation of critical, high-impact software projects, with a strong emphasis on system architecture for reliability and scalability.
• Influencing the evolution of our technology stack to maintain a competitive edge and support long-term innovation.
• Acting as a central figure in large transformation projects, bridging technical and strategic goals across the organization.
• Supporting the Head of Engineering, in contributing to technical strategy, decision-making and team culture.

This role demands a balance of hands-on coding, architectural oversight, and cross-functional collaboration, ensuring our systems meet the needs of millions of users while supporting the company’s growth ambitions.

What We’re Looking For

• Technical Expertise:
  • Extensive experience in software architecture and designing scalable, high-performance systems.
  • High proficiency in PHP (60% of our legacy stack) and JavaScript (40% and growing, including frameworks like NextJS, NestJS, and ExpressJS).
  • Strong command of advanced engineering concepts, including modular design, maintainable code practices, and sophisticated architectural patterns
  • Proven ability to work with relational databases (e.g., MySQL, Postgres) and NoSQL solutions (e.g., Redis, DynamoDB).
  • Hands-on experience with unit testing frameworks and automated deployment pipelines.
  • Familiarity with scalable SaaS cloud solutions (AWS preferred), Terraform, and Kubernetes is highly desirable but not mandatory.
• Experience & Skills:
  • Demonstrated success in leading complex, multi-domain technical projects from concept to deliver
  • Ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams, including engineering managers and product managers, to align technical and business goals.
  • A strategic mindset with a track record of influencing technology direction and driving innovation.
  • Strong communication skills to effectively convey technical concepts and mentor engineering teams, along with communicating technical strategy to senior stakeholders.

Why you'll love THE ICONIC

From our ways of working to our growth mindset and sustainable approach, we each add unique value and have an incredible amount of fun doing it! People are our greatest asset and our ICONITE experience is designed to empower you to do your best work. Here’s what to expect when you join THE ICONIC:

• Flexible working. We offer a hybrid and flexible working model so you can do your best work in a way that works for you
• The learning  collective. Get your knowledge fix with our learning days and hackathons
• Parents at THE ICONIC. Access to our parental leave program and an extra day off for your kids' first day of school every year 
• Birthday leave. Enjoy a paid day off for your birthday and an ICONIC voucher to treat yourself
• Curate your style. No matter what your style is, we have got you covered with our Amazing staff discount and our famous sample sales
• People & Planet Positive: From our ethical sourcing and sustainability strategies to our community engagement and diversity, our responsibility is multifaceted, and each of these facets are equally important. 
• Wellbeing. Access to our discounted gym memberships and wellbeing programs
• People  first. Access our Employee Assistance Program for you and your family. 
• Volunteer days. Work as a Charity Partner with Thread Together for society and environmental change.
• Refer a friend. Enjoy a referral reward for successfully referring someone to THE ICONIC.

Additional Information

We are committed to providing reasonable arrangements to all individuals participating in our application and interview process, and while performing job functions. If you require any accommodations or adjustments prior to the submission of your application or throughout your interview process, please contact our Talent Acquisition team directly: [email protected]