Principal Developer, Nature Research Assistant
About the Springer Nature Group
Springer Nature opens the doors to discovery for researchers, educators, clinicians, and professionals around the globe. For over 175 years, our imprints, books, journals, platforms, and technology solutions have supported communities in advancing knowledge and improving outcomes. Today, we continue to invest in innovation to ensure that foundational knowledge remains discoverable, verifiable, and usable for generations to come.
About the Role
Springer Nature is seeking a visionary and execution‑focused Principal Developer with strong leadership capability to guide the technical direction of the Nature Research Assistant—an emerging AI‑driven product designed for the academic research community.
This role requires someone who can bridge fast-paced AI innovation with enterprise-grade engineering, reduce bottlenecks, accelerate decision‑making, and maintain delivery velocity. You will work closely across SND, the central AI/ML group (SNAIL), DevOps, Product, and our external startup partners.
With the product currently in closed beta, you will join at a pivotal point—helping shape the architecture, strengthen AI integration, and scale the platform for broader rollout.
You will work within a dynamic, collaborative, cross‑functional environment that is passionate about advancing science through technology.
The role can be based in any of our main European Digital locations (London, Lisbon, Berlin) and involves remote collaboration with colleagues in our global offices including Pune (India), Dordrecht and Groningen (The Netherlands), London (UK), and Berlin (Germany). Some travel may be required.
About You
You are a technology leader who excels in enabling teams, navigating ambiguity, and driving pragmatic delivery. You combine deep engineering experience with the ability to influence across organisational boundaries.
You will enjoy this role if you:
Lead through influence, not just authority, and help teams make timely, well‑informed decisions
Bring clarity when stakeholders or teams are misaligned
Can balance best practices with speed—pushing for solutions that are fit for purpose, not over‑engineered
Have strong awareness of modern AI/LLM technologies, including reliability, evaluation, safety, and latency constraints
Value collective ownership, mentoring, and raising the bar for engineering excellence
Are comfortable working across time zones and organisational silos
Enjoy pairing, Test‑Driven Development, trunk‑based development, and continuous delivery
Embrace failure as a learning opportunity
Communicate clearly with both technical and non‑technical collaborators
What’s Expected
In your first 3 months
Develop a deep understanding of the NRA technology stack—a Kotlin/http4k backend and React/Remix frontend
Learn our deployment and infrastructure workflows on Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
Contribute to feature development within the product team
Understand the roles, expectations, and constraints of SNAIL (central AI/ML), DevOps, Product Management, and external partners
Help evolve the team’s agile processes and ceremonies
Understand the team and product context within the academic publishing industry
Begin identifying key bottlenecks and opportunities to improve velocity
By 3–6 months
Lead the technology direction for NRA, selecting appropriate solutions to solve the problems at hand
Mentor team members across locations and support cross‑team collaboration
Translate high‑level product objectives into actionable engineering work
Advocate for defining and implementing strong non‑functional requirements
Guide architectural decisions and clearly articulate trade‑offs
Strengthen AI integration through collaboration with the ML/AI team, focusing on evaluation, reliability, and observability
Help reduce cross‑team friction, enabling faster and clearer decision cycles
By 6–12 months
Support onboarding of new team members and contribute to building a cohesive, high‑performing team
Provide actionable, constructive feedback to engineers and stakeholders
Diagnose and resolve issues in live applications, contributing to blameless post‑mortems
Deepen understanding of user needs and ensure technical decisions reflect the researcher experience
Drive improvements in stability, performance, and iteration speed
Demonstrate measurable improvements in delivery flow, architectural clarity, and collaboration effectiveness
Springer Nature Skills Associated With This Role
SN‑Action‑Oriented · SN‑Tech Savvy · SN‑Cultivates Innovation ·
SN‑Data Security & Governance · SN‑Quality Management ·
SN‑Process & Systems Design · SN‑Product Development & Delivery ·
SN‑Software Engineering & Systems Integration · SN‑Collaboration · SN‑Drives Results
#LI-AR1
Skills Required
- Several years leading software development using Java or Kotlin
- Experience working with Kotlin and http4k
- Experience with React and Remix frontend frameworks
- Familiarity with Node.js
- Experience deploying applications to Cloud Foundry using Concourse CI/CD
- Experience working in a Test-Driven Development environment
- Experience with trunk-based development and CI/CD practices
- Experience mentoring and supporting other developers across locations
- Strong experience working with stakeholders and non-developers to define solutions
- Comfortable pair programming and owning production software
- Active interest or exploration in AI/ML technologies
- Ability to design system architecture and define non-functional requirements
What We Do
Research and learning are the cornerstones of progress, which is why we open doors to discovery for our communities, enabling millions of researchers, clinicians, educators and other professionals to access, trust and make sense of the latest insights. Springer Nature is an ambitious and dynamic organisation. For over 180 years our imprints, books, journals, platforms, and technology solutions have been a trusted source of knowledge to our communities. Today, more than ever, we see it as our responsibility to ensure that fundamental knowledge can be found, verified, understood, and used, ensuring that the world continues to make progress, improving and enriching lives and helping to protect our planet for future generations. Global key facts: Established for over 180 years Nearly 10,000 colleagues 200 offices in 45 countries on all continents World’s largest academic book publisher Publisher of Nature, the world’s most influential journal First company to publish more than 1 million Open Access articles Key brands and imprints: Springer Nature is home to some of the best-known names in research, health, educational and professional publishing. Every day, around the globe, our brands reach millions of people. Nature Springer BMC Palgrave Macmillan Apress Macmillan Education Scientific American Springer Healthcare Springer Medizin Research Square J.B. Metzler BSL Adis
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