Colliers is a leading diversified professional services and investment management company. With operations in 68 countries, our 22,000 enterprising people work collaboratively to provide expert advice to maximize the potential of property and real assets to accelerate the success of our clients, our investors and our people. We are at the forefront of the real estate industry, leading the way and backed by an exceptional record of success. We are building for our future - and yours. We strive to build our business at a competitive pace by augmenting internal growth with smart strategic acquisitions that increase market share, expand service offerings and extend our geographic reach for the benefit of our clients and shareholders. For more than 29 years, Colliers has created value for shareholders that has resulted in superior returns and industry growth. Our people also own significant equity in our business, which brings pride of ownership to everything we do. We are passionate, take personal responsibility and always do what's right for our clients, people and communities. Job Description

Purpose of Position

We are seeking an experienced and passionate

Principal Software Engineer

for our

newly established Technology Hub

in Madrid. This is a unique opportunity to become part of the founding team that helps shape the culture, practices, and technical direction. Working in a

hybrid model

(remote & onsite), you will enjoy significant freedom to

innovate and influence

the future of one of the world's largest commercial real estate companies. With the leadership of the Global Technology Hub coming from a background of technology startups, you will benefit from a fast-paced learning environment, high visibility of your contributions and opportunities to shape processes, culture, and technology strategies. At the same time, you take advantage of the stability, resources, and reach of a

successful integral company . Guided by our global digital strategy, the Madrid Hub collaborates closely with international teams to deliver

world-class technology solutions

that power the future of commercial real estate. As Principal Software Engineer , you will be instrumental in

translating business and functional requirements into robust, scalable, and evolvable system architectures . This role goes beyond today’s requirements: you will actively

anticipate future business needs, emerging technological trends, and architectural evolution , ensuring our platforms remain resilient, adaptable, and aligned with long-term strategy. You will work closely with

business stakeholders, product leaders, engineers, and platform teams

to uncover implicit requirements,



challenge assumptions, and shape solutions that deliver lasting business value. This is a high-impact role with considerable influence over

technology direction, architectural standards, and system design across multiple products and regions. Your expertise will contribute directly to the quality of modern, component-based front-end application built with React and Typescript, as well as robust backend services developed in .NET. You are a

hands-on problem-solver

with strong quality principles, who thrives in a collaborative and agile environment. This role offers the opportunity to heavily influence technical direction and bridge the gap between business and teams while building solutions with genuine business impact. Essential Functions and Job Duties

Architecture and System Design

Design and evolve end-to-end system architectures based on

functional and non-functional requirements , balancing business goals, scalability, security, performance, and cost. Produce clear architectural

artefacts

(diagrams, decision records, reference implementations) that guide engineering teams through implementation. Translate high-level business needs into

clear architectural designs and proofs of concept , including system boundaries, integration patterns, data flows, and technology choices. Ensure architecture is

modular, maintainable, secure, performant and adaptable

to future requirements. Ask the

right questions

to uncover

implicit, hidden, or conflicting requirements

not easily identified due to their nature. Challenge assumptions and propose alternative solutions when requirements introduce unnecessary complexity or long-term risk. Technical Leadership and Governance

Work

closely

with Engineering Managers and act as a

trusted advisor

for software engineering teams. Ensure consistency and quality through

architecture reviews, design walkthroughs, and technical governance forums . Identify gaps

or friction between enterprise standards and practical delivery needs and proactively propose improvements. Ensure architectural compliance through

influence ,

coaching , and

design collaboration

rather than formal enforcement. Collaboration and Delivery Enablement

Work closely with

Software Engineering,



Product Management, DevOps, EngOps

teams to ensure architectural alignment throughout delivery. Partner with DevOps and Cloud Engineering teams to ensure application architectures align with platform capabilities, CI/CD pipelines, and operational models. Collaborate with Engineering Operations to ensure architectural decisions support delivery metrics, reliability goals, and operational excellence. Support engineering teams during implementation, helping resolve complex design or integration challenges. Ensure architecture aligns with

security, compliance, and regulatory requirements

across regions. Qualifications

Required Skills/Experience: 12+ years of experience in software engineering, and at least 5+ years

in software architecture or system design roles . Proven ability to design

complex, distributed, and scalable systems . Strong understanding of

SOA, microservices, event-driven architectures, and API development (REST/GraphQL) . Strong background in modern

backend architectures

(e.g. .NET, microservices, event-driven systems, APIs), and modern

frontend architectures

(e.g. React, TypeScript) and how they integrate with backend services. Deep knowledge of

cloud-native architectures and containerization . Experience with SQL and NOSQL databases (e.g. SQL Server or Postgres SQL, Cosmos DB, MongoDB), as well as caching with Redis or similar. Strong grasp of

non-functional requirements : performance, scalability, availability, security, and observability. Excellent communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to

non-technical stakeholders

and

influence

technical direction without direct management authority, fluent in English and Spanish. Agile Development experience (Scrum/Kanban), including story estimation, code reviews, and pair programming. Experience working in distributed or remote teams and using tools such as Jira, GitHub, Miro, and Azure DevOps. Solid understanding of performance optimization. Enthusiastic about building high-quality software products with empowered teams. Understanding of secure development practices and compliance frameworks (e.g. ISO27001, GDPR, SOC2). Preferred Skills/Experience: Experience with performance testing and security testing tools Experience in working in a global, multi-cultural organization. Exposure to domain-driven design (DDD) and event-driven architecture. Ability to work in a fast-paced, growing tech environment and to foster change in larger organizations. Experience working closely with DevOps, CloudOps, SRE and familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, IaaC

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📌 Principal Backend Engineer (Hybrid) (Madrid)
🏢 Colliers
📍 Madrid