Principal Engineer Software Engineering (Specialist Software)

JAM Recruitment Ltd; Frimley; Hybrid; GBP 83,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Job summary

JAM Recruitment Ltd in Frimley is seeking a Principal Engineer - Software Engineering (Specialist Software) for a hybrid role. The contract offers £67.47 per hour Umbrella Inside IR35 for an initial 12 months, with on-site work 2-3 days per week.

The role focuses on shaping Kubernetes-based CI capabilities and strategic engineering standards. You will work to design Kubernetes platforms, influence architecture and governance, and collaborate with engineering leadership to support immediate

Qualifications

• Ideally 5+ years of experience.
• STEM background with Chartered IT Professional (CITP) or equivalent.
• Experience designing Kubernetes platforms, not just operating.
• Proven experience integrating Kubernetes with CI/CD systems.
• Experience with multi-team platform design and governance.

Responsibilities

• Shape architectural direction for containerisation.
• Lead Kubernetes platform design and governance.
• Integrate Kubernetes with CI/CD systems.
• Collaborate with engineering leadership on delivery goals.

Skills

Engineering leadership

Kubernetes platform design

Kubernetes CI/CD

Multi-team governance

Education

STEM background / Chartered IT Professional

Tools

ArgoCD

Kaniko

BuildKit

Job description

Principal Engineer - Software Engineering (Specialist Software)

Frimley based role (Hybrid working)

£67.47 per hour Umbrella Inside IR35

12 Month Contract initially.

This is a great opportunity to work within one of the UK's leading Defence organisations based in Frimley. The role is working on a hybrid basis 2-3 days per week on site.

We are seeking an experienced Kubernetes contractor to help define this direction. The emphasis of this role is not on simply deploying or administering Kubernetes clusters, but on shaping the architectural approach, design decisions, and engineering standards that will underpin our future CI capabilities.

This individual will work closely with engineering leadership to ensure that containerisation is introduced in a way that supports both immediate delivery needs and longer-term strategic goals, including multi-team adoption, cost efficiency, and developer experience.

An experienced Kubernetes engineer is required to support the immediate project with the integration of US Common Infrastructure Services (CIS) into CI following which the role would be required within CIIS for delivery of CI capability.

Skills:

• Ability to operate at engineering leadership / architecture level
• Strong experience designing Kubernetes platforms, not just operating them
• Proven experience integrating Kubernetes with CI/CD systems
• Experience with multi-team platform design and governance

Desirable:

• Experience with GitOps (e.g., ArgoCD, Flux)
• Experience with cloud-native build tooling (e.g., BuildKit, Kaniko)
• Familiarity with enterprise-scale engineering environments

Qualifications:

• (Ideally 5+ years experience)
• STEM, CEng, Chartered IT Professional (CITP) ect