Principal API Architect & Tech Lead (Cloud, AI)

Collinson Group; Greater London; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Collinson Group in the United Kingdom is seeking a Principal Engineer to lead the technical direction of our API pillar. You will set architectural vision, guide multiple squads, and write real code while solving complex problems in a cloud-native environment.

You will champion SOLID, CI/CD, observability with DataDog, and integration with Kafka and Salesforce inside a modern event-driven platform. This is a hands-on leadership role.

Qualifications

• Experience designing large, distributed, data-driven systems in the cloud.
• Led engineering teams or squads previously.
• Proficient in Test-Driven Development with Jest or Pact.
• Able to architect scalable systems that integrate with complex ecosystems.

Responsibilities

• Technical Leadership: Own the technical strategy for the pillar, guiding multiple squads towards high-quality, scalable and well-architected solutions.
• Hands-On Architecture & Development: Lead the design and development of complex, high-scale systems with real code and proofs of concept.
• Engineering Consistency: Ensure teams follow engineering best practices with security, performance and observability.
• Mentorship & Coaching: Support and upskill Lead Engineers and squad engineers.
• Modern Software Practices: Champion SOLID, automated testing and CI/CD.
• Observability & Performance: Build highly observable systems using DataDog and related tools.
• Collaboration: Align technical approach with product and business needs.
• Infrastructure & Deployment: Work with GitHub Actions, Terraform, Kubernetes, and AWS.
• AI & Future Tech: Explore AI-driven development within engineering processes.

Skills

TypeScript

Node.js

React

AWS (EKS, Lambda, Aurora RDS)

Kubernetes

GraphQL

JavaScript

Architectural leadership

Observability mindset

Tools

Terraform

Helm

GitHub Actions

DataDog

Kubernetes

Job description

Collinson Group in the United Kingdom is seeking a Principal Engineer to lead the technical direction of our API pillar. You will set architectural vision, guide multiple squads, and write real code while solving complex problems in a cloud-native environment.

You will champion SOLID, CI/CD, observability with DataDog, and integration with Kafka and Salesforce inside a modern event-driven platform. This is a hands-on leadership role.