Principal Engineer

Sanderson; Greater London; On-site; GBP 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Sanderson is seeking an experienced Principal Software Engineer to join the senior engineering leadership team, shaping the future of customer-facing banking technology used by millions across the UK. The role focuses on technology leadership, architecture, cloud transformation and engineering excellence.

You will work with Principal Engineers, Architects and Engineering Directors to define strategy, improve platform resilience and deliver scalable, secure solutions, while mentoring teams and

Qualifications

• Strong background in Java or .NET
• Experience leading technical teams and influencing strategy
• Deep understanding of modern architecture, cloud platforms and distributed systems

Responsibilities

• Drive engineering strategy and technical direction across multiple teams.
• Support design and delivery of cloud-native platforms.
• Champion engineering excellence, automation and software quality.
• Lead platform modernisation and transformation initiatives.
• Influence architecture decisions and technology roadmaps.
• Mentor senior engineers and develop engineering capability.
• Partner with stakeholders to deliver customer outcomes.
• Promote operational resilience, security and regulatory compliance.

Skills

Java / .NET

Technical leadership

Cloud platforms

Distributed systems

Stakeholder management

Microservices

CI / CD

REST APIs

Kafka

Tools

AWS

GCP

Docker

CI/CD pipelines

Job description

We are seeking an experienced Principal Software Engineer to join a senior engineering leadership team responsible for shaping the future of customer-facing banking technology used by millions of customers across the UK.

This is a strategic engineering role focused on technology leadership, architecture, cloud transformation and engineering excellence. You'll work across multiple teams, driving technical direction, modernisation initiatives and best practices while influencing senior stakeholders across the organisation.

The Opportunity

You'll collaborate with Principal Engineers, Architects and Engineering Directors to define technology strategy, improve platform resilience and support the delivery of scalable, secure and customer-focused solutions.

This role is ideal for someone who enjoys solving complex engineering challenges, mentoring teams and influencing technology decisions at scale.

Key Responsibilities

• Drive engineering strategy and technical direction across multiple teams.
• Support the design and delivery of modern cloud-native platforms.
• Champion engineering excellence, automation and software quality.
• Lead platform modernisation and transformation initiatives.
• Influence architecture decisions and technology roadmaps.
• Mentor senior engineers and develop engineering capability.
• Partner with business and technology stakeholders to deliver customer outcomes.
• Promote operational resilience, security and regulatory compliance.

Technology Environment

• AWS / GCP
• Microservices
• Kafka
• REST APIs
• CI/CD & DevOps

What We're Looking For

• Strong software engineering background in Java or .NET environments.
• Experience leading technical teams and influencing engineering strategy.
• Deep understanding of modern architecture, cloud platforms and distributed systems.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Passion for engineering excellence, automation and continuous improvement.

Highly Desirable

• Retail Banking or Financial Services experience.
• Experience supporting large-scale customer platforms.
• Knowledge of operational resilience and regulatory environments.
• Exposure to payments, cards, lending or everyday banking services.

This is a fantastic opportunity to join a major banking organisation at Principal Engineer level, helping shape technology strategy, modernise critical platforms and influence systems used by millions of customers every day.

If you're currently a Principal Engineer, Lead Engineer, Staff Engineer, Engineering Manager or Technical Architect looking to operate at enterprise scale, we'd love to hear from you.