Principal Engineer, Digital Assets

NatWest Group; Greater London; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

NatWest Group invites applicants for Principal Engineer, Digital Assets to lead development and tooling for innovative digital asset capabilities. You will shape architectural direction, oversee multiple software teams, and drive high-performance, secure platforms for the bank.

You will blend hands-on engineering with strategic leadership, guiding technical decisions amid evolving regulatory and market conditions while embedding an AI-first approach across design, build, test, deployment and

Qualifications

• Extensive fintech and digital assets experience with Web3 and blockchain ideals.
• Deep technical expertise and hands-on engineering, able to lead through influence.
• AI-first mindset spanning design, build, test, deployment and operations.
• Proven track record delivering end-to-end complex solutions across data, cloud and APIs.
• Ability to make sound decisions amid evolving regulations, standards, and market infra.
• Experience developing people, line management and coaching.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and tooling to meet project and department goals converting requirements into designs.
• Plan, develop and deploy high-performance, scalable systems for the bank.
• Manage one or more software engineering teams ensuring quality and standards.
• Define technical strategy and advise on product roadmaps and migration plans.
• Ensure systems adhere to architectural principles and fit-for-purpose criteria.
• Monitor progress and report updates to senior stakeholders.

Skills

Digital assets

Web3

Distributed ledger

Blockchain

Architecture

Leadership

Cloud technologies

DevSecOps

AI mindset

Advocacy & mentoring

Tools

AWS

Azure

Kubernetes

CI/CD

Job description

Join us as a Principal Engineer, Digital Assets

• This is an exciting and challenging role that will see you leading best practice for application development and software development life cycles within the bank as we innovate our digital asset capabilities
• With your architect and software engineer background, you'll be delivering software components to enable the delivery of platforms, applications and services for the bank
• You’ll be recognised as a technical leader, as you lead the wider participation in internal and industry wide events, conferences and other activities

What you'll do

As a Principal Engineer, you'll be driving development software and tools to accomplish project and departmental objectives by converting functional and non-functional requirements into suitable designs. You'll play a leading role in planning, developing and deploying high performance robust and resilient systems for the bank, while leading engagements with senior stakeholders to explore and suggest appropriate technical solutions to achieve the required product features.

You’ll have the opportunity to develop your leadership skills as you manage the technical delivery of one or more software engineering teams, overseeing the quality of their work and making sure it meets the required technical standards.

You’ll also be:

• Overseeing the definition of the technical strategy and advising on product roadmaps and migration plans to achieve strategic goals
• Making sure that the bank’s systems follow excellent architectural and engineering principles, and are fit for purpose
• Monitoring the technical progress against plans while safeguarding functionality, scalability and performance, and providing progress updates to stakeholders

The skills you'll need

You’ll be an established architect and hands-on senior engineer with extensive financial technology experience and practical exposure to digital assets, Web3, distributed ledger technology, and blockchain solutions.

You must be able to demonstrate a deep technical expertise and hands-on engineering experience, with the ability to lead through influence, set engineering direction, establish software development lifecycle standards, and drive innovation and operational excellence across teams.

You’ll also bring an AI-first mindset that extends beyond adding AI tools to existing workflows. You'll have experience and practical knowledge of how to build an agentic-enabled team, operating model, and engineering process, with AI embedded across design, build, test, deployment, and operations. This includes specification-driven development, structured context and prompt engineering, human-in-the-loop controls, and measurable assurance of AI-generated solutions.

You’ll also need:

• A track record of designing and delivering complex end-to-end solutions spanning data, integration, platforms, cloud, APIs and user-facing technologies
• A proven ability to make sound technical decisions when faced with ambiguity or as requirements, regulations, standards and market infrastructure evolve
• An action-oriented, delivery-focused and progressive mindset and approach that prioritises tangible outcomes and measurable impact and value
• To be highly skilled in validating designs, resolving complex engineering challenges and accelerating delivery
• A talent for developing people including line management responsibilities, leading and coaching direct and indirect reports, and amplifying your impact through others
• A demonstrated success in evaluating and adopting emerging technologies without compromising engineering fundamentals, security or control
• A practical background deploying, operating and managing production software using modern cloud technologies and DevSecOps practices