Principal System Architect

About Viqal Viqal builds communication infrastructure for hotels. We help hotels manage guest conversations through channels guests already use, such as WhatsApp, enabling 24/7 concierge interactions without apps, installations, or extra friction.

Founded and based in Amsterdam, Viqal is built by a small, senior team with deep experience in hospitality, product, and engineering. The platform is used by both individual hotels and multi-property groups across Europe, supporting real, day-to-day guest operations.

Viqal connects guest messaging with core hotel systems such as the PMS and other operational tools, allowing hotels to coordinate workflows, automate responses, and scale service quality across locations. As the company grows, maintaining clarity, reliability, and trust in this core platform becomes increasingly important.

About the role As the

Principal System Architect , you are accountable for how the Viqal platform behaves in production as scale and complexity increase.

We are hiring for this role as Viqal moves toward more systematized, repeatable delivery. You take primary responsibility for system architecture, boundaries, and operational robustness across core workflows and integrations.

This is a

hands-on, high-ownership role . You design, build, and enforce system discipline directly in the codebase and infrastructure, working closely with the engineering and product team and the co-founders to ensure the platform remains reliable and predictable at scale.

This role is foundational to Viqal’s next phase. You are not joining as a supporting engineer; you are stepping in to define, enforce, and evolve the technical backbone of the company. As we grow, you will shape engineering standards, influence hiring, and play a central role in how the platform scales over the next 3–5 years.

What you’ll do Own system architecture, scalability, and reliability across all deployments Define and enforce clear system boundaries, responsibilities, and failure modes Ensure predictable system behavior under increasing customer and integration complexity Drive production readiness for multi-property and group-level deployments Reduce operational and delivery risk through simplification and standardization Work hands-on in the codebase to enforce system discipline and technical standards Make and stand by technical trade-offs under real-world constraints

You are accountable for

outcomes in production , not just implementation.

You’ll be a great fit if you Have proven experience operating and scaling a SaaS platform in production Have owned systems through real growth phases, not just initial builds Understand how product and integration decisions translate into system behavior at scale Are comfortable taking end-to-end ownership and being accountable for consequences Prefer clarity and simplicity over cleverness Are hands-on by default: you design, build, ship, and improve Are legally authorized to work in the EU

What’s in it for you Ownership of a live SaaS platform at a critical scaling inflection point Clear mandate and real decision authority over system behavior Deep involvement in product, integrations, and production reliability Hybrid-friendly setup with flexibility to work remote or from our Amsterdam office (Spaces Zuidas) Competitive compensation consisting of a base salary and equity reflecting long-term ownership and responsibility in building the company’s technical foundation.