Principal Engineer

Thomson Reuters; Greater London; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible hybrid working environment

Career Development

Industry-Competitive Benefits

Social Impact initiatives

Job summary

PowerToFly is seeking a Principal Engineer for HighQ, the enterprise collaboration platform for the legal sector. This role focuses on technical leadership and the engineering direction across significant projects.

Ideal candidates have a strong background in Java and Python, and experience with complex software systems, AI integration, and delivering robust solutions in production environments. The role offers a hybrid work model and focuses on professional development and work-life balance.

Qualifications

• Track record of designing, building, and delivering complex software systems in production.
• Operate effectively as a senior individual contributor and drive results independently.
• Demonstrated ability to set architectural direction across multiple teams.

Responsibilities

• Evaluate and introduce new technologies that improve software delivery.
• Architect and design complex systems that are scalable and maintainable.
• Lead the engineering work behind HighQ's integration with modern AI platforms.

Skills

Proficiency in Java

Proficiency in Python

Software engineering fundamentals

Complex software design

AI/LLM integration patterns

Strong communication skills

Job description

Principal Engineer – HighQ

Thomson Reuters is hiring a Principal Engineer for HighQ, our enterprise collaboration platform for the legal industry used by leading law firms worldwide to deliver digital services to their clients.

About the role

This is a senior individual contributor role. The Principal Engineer sets technical direction across HighQ's most significant engineering work, owns outcomes from design through production, and is directly accountable for raising the engineering bar across the organisation. The role partners closely with directors, architects, and Staff engineers, and operates as a senior technical voice in decisions that span multiple teams.

• Evaluate and introduce new technologies and engineering practices that improve how the organisation builds and delivers software.
• Architect and design complex systems that are scalable, performant and maintainable.
• Take technical ideas from concept to production, aligned with business priorities and technical strategy.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to engineering teams, raising the standard of work across the organisation.
• Contribute as a hands‑on engineer. Write production code and review the work of others to hold the technical bar.
• Work with product, architecture and engineering peers to turn business requirements into sound technical designs.
• Lead the engineering work behind HighQ's integration with modern AI and agent platforms, including the technical surfaces through which HighQ provides context and capability to AI systems.
• Drive reliability, scalability and performance improvements on a platform serving demanding enterprise customers with significant data and workflow commitments.

About you

• Track record of designing, building and delivering complex software systems in production.
• Operate effectively as a senior individual contributor, drive results independently and be accountable for outcomes.
• Proficiency in Java and Python coupled with broad fluency across modern backend ecosystems including containerised services, relational databases and distributed systems patterns.
• Deep command of software engineering fundamentals and how they apply in practice.
• Demonstrated ability to set architectural direction across multiple teams and be accountable for the outcome.
• Experience driving reliability, scaling or performance work in production systems.
• Familiarity with AI/LLM integration patterns, including the engineering practices that make AI features dependable in production (evals, monitoring, context management).
• Generate and advance technical ideas that produce meaningful business outcomes.
• Strong communicator. Articulate complex technical ideas clearly to engineering and non‑engineering audiences alike.

What’s in it for you

• Hybrid Work Model: Flexible hybrid working environment (2–3 days a week in the office depending on the role) while delivering a seamless digital and physical experience.
• Flexibility & Work‑Life Balance: Flex My Way policies support personal and professional responsibilities, including work from anywhere for up to eight weeks per year.
• Career Development and Growth: Continuous learning, skill development and a skills‑first approach to help grow, lead and thrive in an AI‑enabled future.
• Industry‑Competitive Benefits: Flexible vacation, company‑wide mental health days, Headspace app, retirement savings, tuition reimbursement, employee incentive programs and resources for mental, physical and financial wellbeing.
• Culture: Award‑winning reputation for inclusion, belonging, flexibility and work‑life balance. Our values: Obsess over Customers, Compete to Win, Challenge Your Thinking, Act Fast / Learn Fast and Stronger Together.
• Social Impact: Two paid volunteer days per year, pro‑bono consulting projects and ESG initiatives.
• Making a Real‑World Impact: Help our customers pursue justice, truth and transparency, support the rule of law, and provide trusted, unbiased information worldwide.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

As a global business, we rely on the unique backgrounds, perspectives and experiences of all employees to deliver on our business goals. We seek talented, qualified employees in all our operations worldwide regardless of race, color, sex/gender, pregnancy, gender identity & expression, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, citizen status, veteran status or any other protected classification under applicable law. Thomson Reuters is a proud Equal Employment Opportunity Employer providing a drug‑free workplace.

We also make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and for sincerely held religious beliefs in accordance with applicable law. More information on requesting an accommodation is available through our internal system.