Principal Engineer

The Difference Engine; England; Remote; GBP 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive benefits package

Remote-first work model

Monthly office meet-ups

Job summary

A prominent recruitment agency is seeking a Senior Principal Engineer to lead technical direction for a high-impact eCommerce platform. This remote-first role requires extensive experience in software engineering and distributed systems, with a focus on innovation and architectural leadership. Successful candidates will also mentor teams and refine engineering standards. Strong cloud technology knowledge, ideally AWS, is essential. Competitive package and career growth opportunities available.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 15 years software engineering experience, with at least 5 in technical leadership roles.
• Proven experience building large-scale distributed systems.
• Deep expertise with cloud technology, preferably AWS.

Responsibilities

• Lead technical direction and architecture of critical systems.
• Define engineering standards and mentor teams.
• Partner with Product and Executive leadership for strategic initiatives.

Skills

Software engineering experience

Large-scale distributed systems

Commercial focus

Strategic architecture leadership

Hands-on coding

Cloud technology

Innovation

Continuous improvement

Tools

Java

C#

Python

AWS

Job description

Are you an experienced Senior Principal Engineer looking for your next challenge? We’re looking for an exceptional Senior Principal Engineer to lead the technical direction and architecture of our most critical systems. This is a high‑impact leadership position where you’ll define engineering standards, mentor senior teams, and shape the future of our technology stack.

As a Senior Principal Engineer, you’ll be the go‑to expert for architecture, scalability, and innovation, partnering closely with Product, Engineering, and Executive leadership. This is an individual contributor role.

Our client, a well‑known product & tech‑lead eCommerce business, is going through a major re‑architecture to help 10x scale their platform to ingest > 10Bn data‑points a day. We are looking for a principal engineer who can technically lead this initiative while also being a bar‑raiser across the broader engineering division.

If you enjoy variety in your role, have experience building large‑scale distributed systems, and know how to balance a "start‑up scrappy" approach with best‑in‑class practices for fast, optimal customer outcomes, then we’d love to hear from you.

Essential skills for the role:

• Minimum of 15 years software engineering experience, with at least 5 in technical leadership roles responsible across multiple teams.
• Proven experience building large‑scale distributed systems.
• A strong commercial focus with experience partnering with strong technical product organizations and interacting with executive leadership.
• Comfortable moving fluidly between strategic architecture leadership and hands‑on coding—whether shaping long‑term vision, testing emerging technologies, or crafting exemplar code to raise engineering standards.
• Polyglot engineering mindset: while a background in OO (Java, C#, Python) is useful given the existing tech stack, the focus is on using the best tool to solve the problem.
• Deep expertise with cloud technology—AWS is a big plus.
• Proven experience using innovation to drive better commercial outcomes.
• Experience as a bar‑raiser, constructively challenging the status quo with insight and empathy—fostering a culture of continuous improvement through influence and expertise.

If you enjoy being challenged, work with exceptional people, and want to make a significant impact on a business that already generates > £1Bn in revenue, we’d love to hear from you.

Interested Principal Engineer candidates are encouraged to apply. Promising applicants can expect a response within 24 hours, including full details of the role, progression, and the excellent benefits package on offer.

This is a remote‑first role; candidates will be expected to visit the company offices at least once a month for company‑wide meet‑ups.

The Difference Engine is a recruitment agency working exclusively in support of our client.