Principal Engineer, API Management Platform

NatWest Group; Greater London; On-site; GBP 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

NatWest Group is seeking a Principal Engineer for the API Management Platform to design, build and operate enterprise-scale API services. You will champion customer-centric, high-performance solutions and work with architects to define platform roadmaps and governance.

You’ll lead complex, cross-team initiatives, shape engineering strategy, drive best practices in API design and security, and mentor engineers while coordinating with senior stakeholders across the bank.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in Apigee engineering and enterprise API platforms.
• Strong background in Java microservices, CI/CD automation and modern networking principles.
• Proven ability to shape engineering strategy and influence multiple teams.

Responsibilities

• Design, build and operate API platforms with customer-centric, high-performance goals.
• Lead complex, cross-team initiatives and align technical journeys with business targets.
• Define governance, roadmaps and reusable patterns across domains.
• Influence enterprise architecture and drive adoption of best practices.

Skills

Apigee engineering

API design

Enterprise API platforms

Java microservices

CI/CD automation

JavaScript

Networking principles

Architectural strategy

Stakeholder communication

Tools

GitLab

Jira

Confluence

Job description

Join us as a Principal Engineer, API Management Platform

• This is a challenging role that will see you design and engineer software with the customer or user experience as the primary objective
• With your software development background, you’ll be working with architects to help define major components of the business-wide target architecture and roadmap
• You’ll gain valuable senior stakeholder exposure as well as the opportunity to hone your technical talents and leadership skills

What you'll do

As a Principal Engineer, API Management Platform, you’ll be creating great customer outcomes via engineering and innovative solutions to existing and new challenges, and technology designs which are innovative, customer centric, high performance, secure and robust.

You’ll be leading the more significant, complex and technically challenging assignments, coordinating multiple feature teams, making sure that their technical journeys support realisation of the targets, and deliver the values of the relevant metrics published to our investors.

You’ll also be:

• Defining, creating and providing oversight and governance of engineering and design solutions with a focus on end-to-end automation, simplification, resilience, security, performance, scalability and reusability
• Working within a platform or feature team along with software engineers to design and engineer complex software, scripts and tools to enable the delivery of bank platforms, applications and services, acting as a point of contact for solution design considerations
• Defining and developing architecture models and roadmaps of application and software components to meet business and technical requirements, driving common usability across products and domains
• Influencing the development of strategies and architecture at domain and enterprise levels, identifying transformational opportunities for the businesses and technology areas

The skills you'll need

You'll bring extensive experience in Apigee engineering and architecture, with deep expertise in designing, building and operating enterprise-scale API platforms. You'll have a strong background in Java microservices, CI/CD automation, JavaScript and modern networking principles, alongside a proven track record of delivering secure, scalable and resilient solutions in complex environments.

You'll also have significant experience shaping engineering strategy, driving adoption of best practices and influencing technology direction across multiple teams. You'll have demonstrable expertise in solution architecture, producing high-quality design artefacts and presenting complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

You'll also bring:

• Extensive software engineering experience, leading technical strategy and driving engineering excellence across large-scale platforms
• Deep expertise in API design, management and governance, with a strong track record of delivering enterprise API solutions
• Significant experience of modern engineering practices, including test-driven development, automation, continuous integration and quality engineering
• Strong architectural and analytical skills, with the ability to translate complex business challenges into scalable technical solutions
• Proven experience working with modern engineering toolsets, including GitLab, Jira and Confluence
• Knowledge of MCP within Apigee and emerging AI-assisted engineering tools such as AWS Kiro or Antigravity would be advantageous