Principal Engineer (Cloud) - AWS

QinetiQ Group plc; West of England; On-site; GBP 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Matched pension scheme

Generous holiday allowance

Health Insurance

Dental Insurance

Employee discounts

Armed Forces Covenant

Volunteering opportunities

Job summary

QinetiQ Group plc in the UK seeks a Principal AWS Cloud Engineer to drive cloud strategy, architect resilient distributed systems on AWS, and mentor engineers across seniority levels. You will lead technical direction and collaborate with leadership to align cloud initiatives with product roadmaps.

The role covers multi-region deployments, IaC with Terraform / AWS CDK / Pulumi, internal developer platforms, cost optimisation, and on-call incident response.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience designing multi-region AWS environments.
• Proven leadership of large technical projects.
• Strong IaC with Terraform, CDK or Pulumi.
• Ability to guide engineering squads and mentor staff.
• AWS Associate or higher certification.

Responsibilities

• Architect multi-region, highly available AWS environments.
• Evaluate AWS services and third-party tools.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship across teams.
• Maintain modular IaC codebases with Terraform/AWS CDK/Pulumi.
• Design internal developer platforms and CI/CD frameworks.
• Optimize costs and resolve performance bottlenecks.
• Participate in on-call rota.

Skills

AWS

Terraform

CDK

Pulumi

CI/CD

Python/Go/Java/Node.js

Tools

Terraform

AWS CDK

Pulumi

Job description

As a Principal AWS Cloud Engineer, you will lead the technical direction of our cloud infrastructure and platform engineering initiatives defining the overarching cloud strategy, architecting highly resilient, scalable, and secure distribute systems on AWS. Day-to-day, you'll serve as the highest level of technical escalation and be a trusted advisor to engineering leadership providing Technical Leadership & Mentorship to Senior, Mid-Level and Junior Engineers fostering a culture of continuous learning, rigorous peer review, and operational excellence. Your responsibilities will include:

• Architecting complex, multi-region, and highly available AWS cloud environments that align with long-term business goals and product roadmaps
• Continuously evaluate emerging AWS services and third-part tools to determine their viability for improving our technology stack and reducing time-to-market
• Guiding technical decision-making across multiple engineering squads and cross-functional collaboration to ensure seamless integration of cloud infrastructure with product development
• Maintaining complex, modular codebases using Terraform/AWS CDK/Pulumi
• Architecting internal developer platforms and enterprise-grade CI/CD frameworks that enable development teams to operate autonomously and securely
• Implementing AWS cost optimisation strategies and driving optimisations to resolve systemic performance bottlenecks across microservices, databases, and network layers, This role is 37 hours per week based at any of our main UK sites with a minimum average site attendance of three days per week. To cover shift patterns between 0730-1830 GMT you may be asked to work at specific times. As part of a commitment to maintaining high service availability and rapid incident response, this role will be required to participate in an on-call rota. This responsibility reflects the trust placed in the role to act swiftly and decisively when critical systems are impacted
  Expert knowledge of the entire AWS ecosystem, particularly complex networking (Transit Gateway, Direct Connect), compute, data storage, and enterprise security configurations
• Exceptional proficiency in Infrastructure as Code and configuration management
• Strong software background with deep expertise in at least one modern programming language (Python, Go, Java, or Node.JS
• Demonstrated experience leading large technical projects, influencing organisational engineering culture and driving cross-team consensus
• Proven track record of designing, deploying, and maintaining large-scale, distributed software systems and microservices architectures, Minimum of AWS Associate certification or higher

We value difference and we don't have a fixed idea when it comes to background or education, provided you can show the required level of experience and willingness to learn then we would like to hear from you.

QinetiQ operates state-of-the-art facilities across the UK that focus on defence, security and technology innovation. These facilities enable QinetiQ to conduct a wide range of research, testing and development activities that support both military and civilian applications helping to advance technology and support national security. Please note that all applicants for this role must be eligible for SC clearance, as a minimum. UKSV National Security Vetting Solution: guidance for applicants - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Our Recruitment Process: At QinetiQ we are committed to building an inclusive, accessible and welcoming workplace where everyone feels valued and supported. We believe that a diverse mix of backgrounds, perspectives and experiences drives innovation and leads to better outcomes for our people, customers and communities. We encourage applications from all candidates and are a disability confident committed employer. If you have a disability or need any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know by emailing [e-mail]. One of our recruitment team will contact you. Many roles in QinetiQ are subject to national security vetting being completed, applicants who already hold the appropriate level of vetting may be able to transfer it upon appointment. A number of roles are also subject to additional restrictions, which means factors such as nationality or previous nationalities may affect the roles that you can be employed in.

Why Join QinetiQ? As we continue to grow into new markets around the world, there's never been a more exciting time to join QinetiQ. The formula for success is our appetite for innovation and having the courage to take on a wide variety of complex challenges. As a QinetiQ employee, you'll experience a unique working environment where teams from different backgrounds, disciplines and experiences enjoy collaborating widely and openly as we undertake this exciting and rewarding journey. Through effective teamwork, and pulling together, you'll get to experience what happens when we all share different perspectives, blend disciplines, and link technologies; constantly discovering new ways of solving complex problems in a diverse and inclusive environment where you can be authentic, feel valued and realise your full potential. Visit our website to read more about our diverse and inclusive workplace culture. www.qinetiq.com/en/careers/life-at-qinetiq

• Matched contribution pension scheme, with life assurance
• Generous holiday allowance, with the option to purchase additional days
• Options to join Health Cash Plan, Private Medical Insurance and Dental Insurance
• Employee discount portal: Personal Accident Insurance, Travel Insurance, Restaurants, Cinema Tickets and much more
• We are proud to support the Armed Forces community by honouring the Armed Forces Covenant and maintaining our Gold Award standard in the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme
• Volunteering Opportunities - helping charities and local community