Principal Engineer

Who are we?

Lyka is an Australian founded pet wellness company that's shaking up an outdated industry and paving the way for happier, healthier pets. Despite medical advancements, animal lifespans are on the decline. Today, the average pet only reaches 37% of their full potential lifespan and statistics have shown us that many suffer from dental disease, cancer, and obesity. Simply put, the status quo is not enough.

As humans, we've experienced firsthand the positive impact fresh wholefoods can have on our health and wellbeing, and we believe our furry friends deserve the same. We're on a mission to do just that, starting with nutritionally balanced, wholefood meals delivered direct to doors around Australia. As the world's most sustainable pet wellness company, we're putting pets and our planet first - one bowl at a time.

Today, we are proud to share we've served 50 million meals to puppers and their parents across Australia, and this is just the beginning. Our vision is to create multiple nutritional products, adding disease prevention meals and supplements, and expand into new markets.

Currently, we have a team of 250+ pet-obsessed people and we're continuing to grow (yes, looking at you!). These carefully selected people are dedicated to building the next generation of technology and products to help empower pet parents to take control over their pet's wellbeing.

To date, we have raised over $60M in funding from venture capital investors and pet industry insiders, who believe in our mission and ability to drive change in a stagnant industry, providing nutrition that nourishes puppers from the inside out.

Are you ready to shake things up and give pets the life they deserve? Come join our pack!

Our Mission

The time we share with our pets is being cut short. Despite medical advancements, they're getting sicker earlier. They're dying prematurely. The industry has it backwards - prioritising treating symptoms instead of addressing the root cause. That's where we come in.

At Lyka, we take a preventative, holistic and personalised approach to pet care. We look at the full picture, factoring in the diet, lifestyle and environment of each individual animal.

We don't stop at symptoms, instead we dig for the root cause. We create nutrition plans unique to each pet, because it's not just about living longer, but living well too.

Our mission is to increase the lifespan of dogs and cats.

What you’ll do

• Own and shape the core backend services and impactful frontend components that power Lyka's software stack, delivering exceptional user experiences.
• Review and refine code and design documents, ensuring quality, scalability, and innovation across the engineering team.
• Head the Technical Leadership Guild, driving collaboration and fostering a culture of technical mastery and creativity.
• Champion technical excellence, setting the bar high and ensuring Lyka consistently delivers top-tier solutions.
• Define and guide Lyka’s long-term engineering roadmap, driving vision and innovation to secure the future of our technology.

• A seasoned expert with 10+ years of experience in Software Engineering, with a strong focus on building scalable Cloud Software products.
• 3+ years serving as a Principal Software Engineer, demonstrating a proven ability to lead technical projects and teams.
• Hands-on experience with TypeScript, Vue, NestJS, Microservices, Postgres, and AWS, crafting robust and efficient solutions.
• [Preferred] Experience working in hardware and/or manufacturing environments, bridging the gap between software and physical systems.
• A deep understanding of modern software architecture and the ability to drive complex projects from concept to deployment.

• Work in a fast-growing start-up, experiencing what goes behind the scenes to sustain hyper-growth for a start-up with a physical product!
• Growth and Development – Lyka is growing extremely quickly, which means you will have the opportunity to experience different challenges every day and progressively acquire more responsibilities as our facility and team expand. We provide an annual L&D budget for you to continue your personal development.
• Work for a sustainability-focused company – we care about the health of our dogs and our planet. We’re proud to be Australia’s only carbon-negative and plastic-negative pet wellness company and we’re always looking at ways for us to improve sustainability practices.
• Be part of a diverse top-talent team, coming from widely different backgrounds and geographies.
• Up to 18 weeks of paid parental leave top-up
• Wellbeing assistance and tools to take care of your mental and physical wellbeing so you can do your best work.
• Flexible working: work from where you get your best work done. We have pet-friendly offices and industrial kitchens in Sydney and Melbourne.
• Pupper parent support to care for your furry friends – flexible arrangements for new pets, pet-friendly offices, discounts, and financial allowance for dog training and care to help them live their best life!

We are committed to building inclusive and diverse teams

Lyka is an equal-opportunity employer devoted to providing a working environment that embraces and values diversity and inclusion. We celebrate diversity, are devoted to creating an inclusive environment for all staff and encourage people of all backgrounds to apply. If you have any support or access requirements, we encourage you to advise us at the time of application.