Principal Engineer Cloud AWS

QinetiQ; Orpington; On-site; GBP 43,000 - 83,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension & life cover

Extra holidays

Health plan

Private medical/dental

Employee discounts

Volunteer opportunities

Armed Forces support

Job summary

QinetiQ is seeking an experienced cloud/DevOps engineer to lead the direction of our cloud infrastructure on AWS. You will architect resilient, scalable, and secure distributed systems, mentor engineers, and drive cross-team collaboration across multiple squads.

The role requires senior-level experience with Terraform, Pulumi, and AWS CDK, and compliance with on-site attendance in the UK. The candidate should have extensive AWS knowledge, strong software background, and the ability to influence

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in cloud infrastructure, AWS focus.
• Expert knowledge of AWS networking, compute, storage, and security.
• Strong IaC and config mgmt skills.
• Deep software background with Python/Go/Java/Node.js.
• Proven track record leading large technical projects and cross-team consensus.
• Experience designing and maintaining large distributed systems and microservices.
• AWS Associate certification or higher.
• Eligibility for SC clearance.
• Willingness to work 37 hours/week and on-call rotas.

Responsibilities

• Lead technical direction of cloud infrastructure and platform engineering.
• Define cloud strategy and architect scalable, secure AWS systems.
• Serve as technical escalation and advisor to engineering leadership.
• Provide mentorship to engineers at all levels.
• Foster continuous learning, peer review, and operational excellence.
• Architect multi-region, highly available AWS environments aligned with business goals.
• Evaluate new AWS services and third‑party tools to improve tech stack.
• Guide technical decisions across multiple squads and cross-functional teams.
• Maintain modular codebases using Terraform, AWS CDK, and Pulumi.
• Design internal developer platforms and enterprise CI/CD frameworks.
• Implement AWS cost optimisation strategies.
• Drive performance optimisations across microservices, databases, and networks.

Skills

AWS expertise

IaC

Programming languages

Leadership

Cross-team collaboration

Education

AWS Associate cert

Tools

Terraform

AWS CDK

Pulumi

CI/CD

Node.js

Job description

Salary: £43,000 - 83,000 per year

Requirements:

• We require extensive experience in cloud infrastructure, specifically AWS.
• We require expert knowledge of the AWS ecosystem, including complex networking, compute, data storage, and enterprise security configurations.
• We require exceptional proficiency in Infrastructure as Code and configuration management.
• We require a strong software background with deep expertise in at least one modern programming language such as Python, Go, Java, or Node.js.
• We require demonstrated experience leading large technical projects, influencing engineering culture, and driving cross-team consensus.
• We require a proven track record of designing, deploying, and maintaining large-scale distributed software systems and microservices architectures.
• We require at least an AWS Associate certification or higher.
• We require eligibility for SC clearance.
• We require the ability to work 37 hours per week, with a minimum average site attendance of three days per week.
• We may ask you to work across shift patterns between 0730 and 1830 GMT and to participate in an on-call rota.

Responsibilities:

• We lead the technical direction of our cloud infrastructure and platform engineering initiatives.
• We define our overarching cloud strategy and architect highly resilient, scalable, and secure distributed systems on AWS.
• We act as the highest level of technical escalation and serve as a trusted advisor to engineering leadership.
• We provide technical leadership and mentorship to Senior, Mid-Level, and Junior Engineers.
• We foster a culture of continuous learning, rigorous peer review, and operational excellence.
• We architect complex, multi-region, highly available AWS cloud environments aligned with business goals and product roadmaps.
• We evaluate emerging AWS services and third-party tools to assess their value in improving our technology stack and reducing time-to-market.
• We guide technical decision-making across multiple engineering squads and support cross-functional collaboration.
• We maintain complex, modular codebases using Terraform, AWS CDK, and Pulumi.
• We architect internal developer platforms and enterprise-grade CI/CD frameworks.
• We implement AWS cost optimisation strategies.
• We drive optimisations to resolve systemic performance bottlenecks across microservices, databases, and network layers.

Technologies:

• AWS
• Architect
• CI/CD
• Cloud
• Support
• Java
• Network
• Pulumi
• Python
• Security
• Terraform
• microservices
• NodeJS
• DevOps

More:

We are QinetiQ, a defence, security, and technology company focused on creating cutting-edge innovations that help empower and protect lives. We operate state-of-the-art facilities across the UK and work on research, testing, and development for military and civilian applications, supporting national security and advancing technology. We offer a collaborative, diverse, and inclusive environment where teams from different backgrounds, disciplines, and experiences work openly together. Our benefits include a matched contribution pension scheme with life assurance, generous holiday allowance with the option to purchase additional days, optional Health Cash Plan, Private Medical Insurance and Dental Insurance, an employee discount portal, volunteering opportunities, and support for the Armed Forces community. This role is based at any of our main UK sites with a minimum average of three days on site per week, and it requires participation in an on-call rota.

last updated 37 week of 2026