Principal Software Engineer

Oliver Bernard; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 117,000 - 143,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading tech company in London is looking for a Principal Software Engineer to lead the technical direction on innovative projects. This senior hands-on role requires expertise in both backend and frontend technologies, system architecture, and strong leadership skills. You will own the technical strategy across initiatives, navigate complex problem spaces, and mentor a cross-functional team. This is a unique opportunity to shape the future of digital experiences in a dynamic environment.

Qualifications

• Broad engineering background across backend and frontend.
• Hands on engineering ability combined with long term technical thinking.
• Strong experience in fast paced, experimentation driven environments.

Responsibilities

• Own technical strategy and execution across multiple forward looking initiatives.
• Guide a small cross functional engineering team.
• Lead, mentor and grow a small engineering team.

Skills

Hands on engineering ability

Strong communication skills

Deep system architecture experience

Experience with OOP languages

Knowledge of TypeScript

Experience with AWS or GCP

Proven background as a Principal Engineer

Familiarity with Generative AI toolchains

Education

Degree in Computer Science or similar

Tools

NestJS

Postgres

GraphQL

Kafka Streams

Job description

Hybrid in London (2 days on-site, 3 days from home)

Up to £130k base + Bonus +Stock

Principal Software Engineer – Would you like to be part of a brand-new engineering group focused on redefining how people move through next generation digital experiences? This is a rare opportunity to join an internal innovation incubator exploring AI, AR, mobile, web and emerging technologies, with full backing from an engineering led leadership team. They are looking for a Principal Engineer operating at Head level to lead technical direction across multiple greenfield projects, guide a small cross functional team, and push the boundaries of what the company can deliver across its digital ecosystem.

This is a senior hands-on technical leadership role with huge influence, high visibility and the chance to shape the future tech landscape of a world class brand.

The Mission

• Own technical strategy and execution across multiple forward looking initiatives
• Navigate ambiguity, provide clarity and lead decision making in complex problem spaces
• Explore untapped technology areas and feed learnings back into the wider organisation
• Work alongside product, design, engineering leadership and strategy teams
• Guide technical standards across system design, scalability and code quality
• Lead, mentor and grow a small cross functional engineering team Drive productivity improvement through modern tools including AI coding agents
• Act as the main technical point of contact across teams and stakeholders

Ideal requirements

• Degree in Computer Science or similar
• Broad engineering background across backend and frontend
• Deep system architecture experience and ability to design large scale systems from scratch
• Strong experience in fast paced, experimentation driven environments
• Hands on engineering ability combined with long term technical thinking
• Proven background as a Principal Engineer or Systems Architect
• Strong communication skills and ability to influence at all levels
• Experience with rapid testing, experimentation and controlled production rollouts
• Confident with modern stacks including one OOP language or TypeScript, NestJS, Postgres, AWS or GCP, GraphQL and Kafka Streams
• Experience with LLM driven development, RAG pipelines and Generative AI toolchains
• Exposure to Agentic AI and MCP is a standout plus
• Experience working with vendors and external technology partners

If you are interested in exploring a senior technical leadership role with massive scope and a genuine opportunity to shape an entire digital vision from the ground up, feel free to reach out for a chat.