Principal Engineering Lead Role

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

Job summary

FalconSmartIT in London, UK is seeking a Principal Engineering Lead to drive engineering excellence and strategic technical direction. The role combines hands-on software leadership, architecture stewardship, and people management across multiple teams to deliver high-quality cloud-native solutions.

Collaborating with Product, Architecture, Infrastructure and Engineering leadership, you will define standards, guide solution shaping, and promote AI-enabled engineering practices to optimise cost,

Qualifications

• Extensive hands-on software engineering and solution architecture experience.
• Experience across multiple programming languages, frameworks, and stacks.
• Proven ability designing and delivering cloud-native solutions, preferably MS Azure.
• Experience defining architecture, standards, and reusable patterns at scale.
• Strong knowledge of modern software engineering practices: DevOps/CI/CD, testing, security, observability, resilience, platform/cloud engineering.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership and set engineering standards across the organisation.
• Shape solutions that deliver business value and strategic outcomes.
• Lead and develop engineering teams with coaching and performance management.
• Champion AI-native engineering to improve productivity and quality.
• Define and govern the engineering operating model, SDLC, and quality practices.
• Influence stakeholders and drive alignment between product, architecture, and infrastructure.

Skills

Technical leadership

Architecture

System design

Stakeholder management

People leadership

AI-enabled engineering

Azure

CI/CD tooling

Tools

Azure

CI/CD tooling

Job description

Job Title

Principal Engineering Lead Role

Job Location

London UK/Onsite

Job Type

12 Months FTC OR FTE

Role Purpose

• The Principal Engineering Lead is a senior technical leadership role responsible for driving engineering excellence across the organisation.
• The role combines hands-on technical expertise, strategic direction, and people leadership. It establishes engineering standards, strengthens architecture and technical capability, and enables teams to deliver high-quality solutions efficiently and consistently.
• Working closely with Product, Architecture, Infrastructure and Engineering leadership, the Principal Engineering Lead shapes solutions early, resolves technical risks and dependencies, and ensures delivery teams have clear direction and strong technical foundations
• The role also owns the engineering operating model, including the Software Development Lifecycle, engineering quality standards, coding practices, development tools, and modern engineering ways of working. It promotes AI-enabled engineering practices to improve productivity, quality, reuse, and cost efficiency.

Key Responsibilities

• Engineering Excellence and Technical Leadership
• Solution Shaping and Business Value
• People Leadership and Capability Development
• AI-Native Engineering and Continuous Improvement
• Engineering Operating Model, SDLC and Quality
• Stakeholder Leadership and Influence

Required Experience and Knowledge

• Extensive hands-on experience in software engineering and solution architecture.
• Experience working across multiple programming languages, frameworks, and technology stacks.
• Proven experience designing and delivering cloud-native solutions, preferably using Microsoft Azure.
• Experience defining architecture, engineering standards, technical direction, and reusable patterns at organisational scale.
• Strong knowledge of modern software engineering practices, including:
• DevOps and CI/CD
• Automated testing
• Secure engineering
• Observability
• Operational resilience
• Platform engineering
• Cloud engineering
• Good understanding of cloud economics, cost optimisation, and total cost of ownership.
• Experience leading strategic engineering initiatives across multiple teams, products, or domains.
• At least four years of leadership and people management experience, including coaching, mentoring, performance management, and career development.
• Experience establishing or leading a Centre of Excellence, Community of Practice, engineering maturity programme, or similar capability function.
• Experience working with Product, Architecture, Infrastructure and Engineering teams to align technical decisions with business outcomes.
• Experience adopting AI-enabled engineering tools, workflows or operating models is desirable.

Skills and Competencies

• Exceptional technical leadership, architecture, and system design skills.
• Ability to shape technical direction early and make sound decisions in complex or uncertain situations.
• Strong stakeholder management, communication, and influencing skills.
• Excellent people leadership, coaching, and mentoring capability.
• Ability to explain technical concepts, risks, and trade-offs clearly to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Strong analytical and outcome-focused mindset.
• Ability to connect technical decisions with business value, delivery outcomes, and cost efficiency.
• Ability to balance short-term delivery requirements with long-term engineering sustainability.
• Commitment to engineering excellence, continuous improvement, innovation, and AI-enabled ways of working.