Principal Software Engineer

Pathfinder; City Of London; Hybrid; GBP 75,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

10% pension

10% cash allowance

Bonus

Benefits pack

Job summary

Pathfinder in London is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to lead the design and delivery of complex digital services. You will write production code, guide a small engineering team, and shape architectural decisions in collaboration with product and business stakeholders.

The role focuses on building scalable Java/Spring Boot microservices, secure AWS solutions, and continuous improvement of digital journeys, with a hybrid work model and substantial in-house engineering investments.

Qualifications

• Significant software engineering experience in large-scale enterprise web applications.
• Deep experience with Java, Spring Boot and microservices.
• Experience with AWS and infrastructure design for production workloads.
• Proficiency in React.js, SQL and both SQL/NoSQL databases.
• Strong DevOps, CI/CD and test automation capabilities.
• Ability to translate business requirements into technical solutions and explain decisions clearly.

Responsibilities

• Design and deliver full stack end-to-end digital journeys for customer experiences.
• Build and improve Java/Spring Boot microservices with resilience and performance.
• Design secure, scalable AWS solutions and make architecture trade-offs.
• Write, test and release code with automated build, test and deployment.
• Guide a small team of engineers and collaborate with product and business stakeholders.
• Improve existing systems with practical, measurable changes.

Skills

Java

Spring Boot

Microservices

AWS

React.js

SQL

MongoDB

PostgreSQL

DevOps

CI/CD

Test automation

Infrastructure as Code

Job description

Principal Software Engineer

Financial services | London | Hybrid, 6 days onsite per month

Package: £75-£95k + 10% pension + 10% cash allowance + bonus + benefits pack.

We’re recruiting a Principal Software Engineer for a financial services organisation investing in its digital products and bringing more engineering in house. This is a hands‑on role for someone who can design complex customer‑facing digital services, write production code and lead technical decisions across a team.

The role

• Design and deliver full stack end-to-end digital journeys, covering customer experience, APIs, integrations, data, security and production support.
• Build and improve Java and Spring Boot microservices, with a strong focus on resilience, scalability and performance.
• Design secure, reliable AWS solutions and make clear decisions about architecture and technical trade-offs.
• Write, test and release code, using automation across build, test and deployment.
• Guide a small team of engineers and work closely with product, business and architecture stakeholders.
• Improve existing systems through practical, measured changes rather than relying on wholesale redesign.

Requirements

• Significant software engineering experience and a track record of delivering large-scale enterprise web applications in financial services.
• Deep experience with Java, Spring Boot and microservices, along with experience of JavaScript (React.JS ideally), SQL, MongoDB, PostgreSQL, DevOps, CI/CD, test automation, and Infrastructure as Code.
• Strong AWS experience, including the design and deployment of secure, resilient production workloads.
• Experience designing and delivering a complete digital customer journey, including integrations, data, exception handling and operational support.
• Experience leading software development teams
• Experience with APIs, test-driven development, automated test frameworks, code repositories, bug tracking tools and wikis.
• The ability to turn business requirements into technical solutions and explain decisions clearly to stakeholders.
• Experience of AWS migrations, data engineering or data architecture would be useful.