Principal Engineer

Socium Recruitment; Ringway; Hybrid; GBP 100,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

A technology recruitment agency in the UK is seeking a Principal Engineer to define architecture patterns and lead cross-team initiatives. You will collaborate closely with product teams, mentor senior engineers, and address systemic problems in engineering practices. Ideal candidates have strong TypeScript/JavaScript skills, and experience with Docker, Kubernetes, and cloud-native systems. This is an opportunity to shape how new squads work and influence technical direction meaningfully.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in a Principal/Staff Engineer role.
• Proficiency in TypeScript and JavaScript.
• Demonstrated competence with Docker and Kubernetes.

Responsibilities

• Define architecture patterns for multiple squads and services.
• Lead technical initiatives across teams.
• Mentor senior engineers and tech leads.

Skills

Experience at Principal / Staff Engineer level

Strong TypeScript / JavaScript background

Experience with Docker and Kubernetes

Knowledge of high-performance language (Go preferred)

Experience designing distributed cloud-native systems

Strong grasp of API-first, event-driven, microservices architecture

Comfortable influencing across teams

Pragmatic mindset

Job description

Principal Engineer - Manchester (Hybrid) - £(Apply online only)k + Package

Ever joined a company after the architecture decisions were already locked in… and spent the next two years working around them? This isn't that. This is a rare chance to come in before the patterns are set — helping shape how a large, mission-critical B2B platform is built as three brand-new squads spin up. It's greenfield where it matters, pragmatic where it has to be, and aimed squarely at engineers who care about how systems evolve, not just shipping the next ticket.

What you'll be doing

• Defining architecture patterns used across multiple squads and services.
• Designing and evolving a complex, workflow-heavy platform at serious scale.
• Leading cross-team technical initiatives (APIs, cloud patterns, DevOps).
• Partnering with product and delivery to shape technical direction — not just react to it.
• Mentoring senior engineers and tech leads, raising the bar across teams.
• Championing automation, observability, and “we build it, we run it”.
• Tackling systemic problems early — scalability, reliability, developer experience.
• Exploring AI and modern tooling to improve how teams build and ship.

Hands‑on when it counts. Strategic when it matters.

What you'll need

• Experience operating at Principal / Staff Engineer level in complex environments.
• Strong TypeScript / JavaScript background.
• Solid experience with Docker and Kubernetes.
• Knowledge of a high-performance language (Go is ideal).
• Experience designing distributed, cloud-native systems AWS
• Strong grasp of API-first, event-driven and microservices architecture.
• Comfortable influencing across teams without formal authority.
• A pragmatic mindset — balancing technical quality with real business outcomes.

Why it's worth your time

You won't be bolted onto a broken setup and asked to “fix it quietly”.

You'll be:

• shaping how new squads work from day one
• setting standards others actually follow
• working on systems where scale, reliability and compliance genuinely matter

There's autonomy, trust, and a clear mandate to do this properly — not just quickly.

If you're a Principal Engineer who enjoys shaping platforms, mentoring strong engineers, and leaving systems better than you found them — this one's worth a chat