Principal Software Engineer

Hargreaves Lansdown PLC; West of England; Hybrid; GBP 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Discretionary bonus

Holiday 25 days

Hybrid work

Pension 11%

Private medical insurance

Life insurance 4x salary

Health care plan

Wellness program

Volunteer days

Bike storage & showers

Job summary

Hargreaves Lansdown PLC in Bristol is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to drive the technology transformation and set high-level architectures. You will influence engineering teams, mentor developers, and shape data-driven, scalable solutions across the organisation.

The role requires strong leadership in modern patterns, cloud-native design, and container orchestration, with a focus on collaboration with Product and Engineering Managers. Hybrid working to Bristol office is offered.

Qualifications

• 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.

Responsibilities

• 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.

Skills

Legacy technology leadership

Cloud-native design

Container orchestration

Architectural patterns

Communication

Coaching teams

Security and observability

System architecture documentation

Tools

Kubernetes

ECS

Docker

Lambda

SQS

DocumentDB

Terraform

AWS

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 are looking for great people to join us, so please come and invest in YOUR future at Hargreaves Lansdown.

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

Essential:

• 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.
• Tech stack: TypeScript / React / Node.js / Terraform AWS: Kubernetes / ECS / Docker / Lambda / SQS / DocumentDB.

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.

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 outpatient care
• Health screening programme
• Help@hand - confidential support including mental health counselling and remote GP
• Wellhub - unlimited access to fitness providers and wellness coach sessions
• Variety of travel to work schemes with bike storage and shower facilities
• Inhouse barista and deli serving subsidised coffee and sandwiches
• Two 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 applications from all individuals without regard to race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, disability or age.

This role may also be available on a flexible working or part time basis – please ask the Recruitment & Onboarding team for more information.

Please note, we are unable to provide employment sponsorship to candidates.

Hargreaves Lansdown is the UK's number one platform for private investors. Our purpose is to empower people to save and invest with confidence, and today, we are trusted with more than £120 billion by over 1.7 million clients. We are based in the heart of Bristol now with over 2,000 colleagues.