Role

Principal Backend Engineer

Location: London

Employment Type: Full time

Location Type: Hybrid

Department: Engineering

Synthesia is the world’s leading AI video platform for business, used by over 90% of the Fortune 100. Founded in 2017, the company is headquartered in London, with offices and teams across Europe and the US. Following our Series E funding, we are continuing to scale our engineering organization and product capabilities.

About the role

You will focus on friction points around primarily backend issues for all teams in Engineering (90 Engineers). You will drive engineering stability, standardization across Engineering, and alignment with R&D teams (another 40 Engineers and Researchers). You will own projects spanning quarters, break problems into deliverable steps, and evaluate impact through our data pipelines and frameworks. You will work end-to-end from the client React frontend to the monolithic Python backend and lead cross-team initiatives.

What we're looking for

At least ten (10) years of experience as a software engineer, with at least 2 years at a Senior Staff/Principal level (L7+).
Previous leadership experience driving projects across multiple teams (50+ Engineers).
Experience in a high-performing engineering organization operating at scale.
Ability to work across the stack with deep knowledge of server-side and backend technologies.
Experience building enterprise-grade SaaS products; extra points for AI-powered video generation, billing systems, experimentation platforms, video delivery, online editors, or real-time collaboration.
Strong alignment with commercial success.

Why join us?

We’re in the golden age of AI. Synthesia is trusted by 50,000+ customers (and 50% of the Fortune 500) and brands like Heineken, Zoom, Xerox, and McDonald’s. We value a culture of action, collaboration, and rapid delivery.

Practical details

Location: UK, Europe (Germany, Switzerland, Ireland) or remote in Europe subject to compliance; remote options possible for other locations depending on right to work checks.
Salary: EUR/GBP/CHF 200,000 base + stock option plan.
Employment type: Full-time (no contractors). Typically via OysterHR.
Leave: 25 days of leave + local holidays.

Notes

All content translated to English. The role may require in-office presence or remote work depending on location.