Principal Software Engineer

hargreaveslansdown; West of England; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Discretionary bonus

25 days holiday

Hybrid working

Pension up to 11%

Private medical insurance

Life insurance

Income protection

Wellbeing resources

Volunteer days

Job summary

Hargreaves Lansdown seeks a Principal Software Engineer to lead architectural transformation in our Investment Growth Tribe. You will define high-level architectures, establish guardrails, and empower teams to deliver data‑driven solutions with a focus on clarity, collaboration, and mentorship.

You will influence cloud architecture choices, promote observability and security, and guide teams through modern transformation while partnering with product and engineering managers.

Qualifications

• Proven leadership in large-scale technology transformation.
• Strong expertise in modern architectural patterns and cloud-native design.
• Clear communication to influence at all levels of the organisation.
• Experience coaching teams on engineering and architecture best practices.

Responsibilities

• Define and document high-level architectures with trade-offs, risks and dependencies.
• Provide architectural principles and best-practice guidelines for teams.
• Foster data-driven decision making with cross-team metrics.
• Promote documentation practices: ADRs, memos, and C4 diagrams.
• Guide cloud choices for container orchestration using AWS services.
• Champion observability, security and networking best practices.
• Improve Developer Experience through tooling and frameworks.
• Mentor engineering teams and support skill development.
• Lead Event-Driven Architecture discussions and cost forecasting.
• Collaborate with Product and Engineering managers on priorities.

Skills

Leadership

Architectural design

Cloud-native

Container orchestration

Communication

Mentoring

Security & observability

Tools

TypeScript/React/Node.js

AWS/Kubernetes/Docker

Terraform

Job description

Excited to grow your career? Our purpose is to make it easy for people to save and invest for a better future. We know that sometimes people can be put off applying for a job if they don't tick every box.

About the role

As a Principal Software Engineer in our Investment Growth Tribe, you'll be a senior technical leader, playing a key role in our technology transformation.

This is a strategic role, where you'll shape and communicate high‑level architectures, set clear and supportive guardrails, work on POCs with teams, support them during challenging times, and empower engineering teams to deliver high-quality, data-driven solutions. It's about influence, clarity, and enabling teams to thrive - with a focus on being approachable, engaged, and collaborative.

What you'll be doing

• Define and document high‑level solution architectures, clearly outlining trade‑offs, risks, and dependencies.
• Provide clear architectural principles and best‑practice guidelines that empower teams to design excellent solutions.
• Foster a culture of data‑driven decision‑making, defining cross‑team metrics that support continuous improvement.
• Promote strong documentation practices, including Architectural Decision Records, Solution Memos, and C4 diagrams.
• Guide cloud architecture choices, particularly around container orchestration and the use of AWS services.
• Champion best practices for observability, logging, security, and networking.
• Identify opportunities to enhance Developer Experience and efficiency through smarter tooling and frameworks.
• Support engineering teams with mentoring, pairing, and skills development.
• Lead conversations around Event‑Driven Architecture, cost forecasting, and designing for the future state.
• Partner with Product and Engineering Managers to align priorities and delivery approaches.

About you

• Demonstrated leadership in legacy technology transformation.
• Strong expertise in modern architectural patterns, cloud‑native design, and container orchestration.
• Skilled communicator able to influence and engage at every level of the organisation.
• Proven ability to balance trade‑offs, costs, and technical constraints.
• Experience coaching teams towards engineering and architecture best practices.
• Deep understanding of design patterns, security, networking, observability, and system flows.
• Adept at producing clear, concise architectural documentation.

Desirable

• Previous experience as a Solution or Enterprise Architect.
• Background in enterprise systems and legacy‑to‑modern transitions.
• Familiarity with PHP and/or Java
• Understanding of Developer Experience optimisation tools and frameworks.

Tech stack

TypeScript / React / Node.js / Terraform

AWS: Kubernetes / ECS / Docker / Lambda / SQS / DocumentDB

Interview Process

• Introductory conversation with our recruitment team (30 mins)
• Virtual first‑stage interview with Senior Engineering Manager (30 mins)
• Virtual structured technical and competency interview (2 hours)

Working Schedule

Full‑time, with hybrid working, a minimum of 2 days in our Bristol office.

Why us?

Here at HL, we're the UK's number 1 investment platform for private investors, based in Bristol. For more than 40 years we've helped investors save time, tax and money on their investments.

To achieve our mission, we believe we have a workplace like no other, with constant learning, dynamic teams, and a great ethos. We're steered by core values that promote service, quality, innovation, and opportunity in everything we do.

What's on offer?

• Discretionary annual bonus * and annual pay review
• 25 days * holiday plus bank holidays and 1-day additional Christmas closure
• Option to purchase an additional 5 days holiday **
• Flexible working options available, including hybrid working
• Enhanced parental leave
• Pension scheme up to 11% employer contribution
• Income Protection and Life insurance (4 x salary core level of cover)
• Private medical insurance*
• Health care cash plans - including optical, dental, and out patient care
• Health screening programme
• Help@hand - confidential support including mental health counselling and remote GP
• Wellhub - unlimited access to fitness provider s and w ellness c oach sessions
• Variety of travel to work schemes with bike storage and shower facilities
• Inhouse barista and deli serving subsidised coffee and sandwiches
• T wo paid volunteering days per year

* dependant on role level

** only available to select during our annual benefits window, in November each year

Hargreaves Lansdown is an inclusive employer that values diversity in its workforce. We encourage applicati