Principal Software Engineer - FTC

BBC Studios; Greater London; On-site; GBP 78,000 - 85,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

London weighting included

Flexible working

Job summary

BBC Studios is seeking a Principal Software Engineer for a 12-month FTC to lead a cloud-native, serverless work order fulfilment workflow within a major media supply chain programme. You will build scalable, observable solutions using AWS and TypeScript/Python, guiding architects, product teams and developers toward reliable end-to-end delivery.

You will mentor engineers and help advance best practices across teams.

Qualifications

• Hands-on technical leader with AWS serverless and cloud-native architectures.
• Experience leading technical teams in a DevOps environment using Agile methodologies.
• Experience managing technical integrations with third-party teams and coordinating changes.
• AWS Serverless expertise: Lambda, Step Functions, SNS/SQS, EventBridge.
• Proficiency in TypeScript & Python.
• Observability, monitoring, logging, and distributed tracing for serverless/microservices.
• Experience with DynamoDB, Aurora PostgreSQL, or MongoDB.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end delivery of working software to business value.
• Facilitate agile ceremonies and backlog refinements.
• Plan capacity, balance support, maintenance, security and features; communicate risks.
• Coordinate with third-party teams to resolve issues and manage changes.
• Collaborate with architects to ensure maintainable, scalable designs.
• Drive continuous improvement and modern development practices.
• Future-proof processes with AI tools where relevant.
• Ensure observability and reliability across solutions.
• Mentor developers and foster knowledge sharing.

Skills

AWS serverless

TypeScript

Python

DevOps

Agile leadership

Third-party integrations

Observability

Distributed tracing

Tools

AWS Lambda

Step Functions

SNS/SQS

EventBridge

DynamoDB

Aurora PostgreSQL

MongoDB

Job description

JOB DETAILS

JOB BAND: D

CONTRACT TYPE: 12 month FTC

DEPARTMENT: Media Supply Chain Technology, which is part of Global Technology

PROPOSED SALARY RANGE: £78,000 - £85,000 on relevant skills, knowledge and experience. Plus London Weighting Allowance of £5,441. The expected salary range for this role reflects internal benchmarking and external market insights.

We're happy to discuss flexible working. If you'd like to, please indicate your preference in the application - though there's no obligation to do so now. Flexible working will be part of the discussion at offer stage.

WE ARE BBC STUDIOS

A globally renowned media company borne of the BBC. We make and distribute the world’s most sought-after TV, audio and digital content.

Our ambition is to be the home of the most powerful, entertaining, and inspiring stories for people all around the world.

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

This is a 12 month FTC, the role is for a Principal Software Engineer to lead development for work order fulfilment order within a major media supply chain transformation programme. The position is critical for delivering modern, cloud-native, serverless workflows that underpin BBC Studios' global content operations. This is a highly technical role, working closely with architects, developers, and product teams to drive end-to-end delivery and future-proof our technology stack.

We're looking for a Principal Software Engineer with strong expertise in AWS serverless technologies, TypeScript, Python, and DevOps practices. You'll work closely with architects, product teams, and developers to build scalable, reliable, and observable solutions while driving engineering best practice and innovation.

You’ll remain actively involved in coding, technical decision-making, code reviews, deployment planning, and team collaboration. Experience with media processing workflows is highly desirable, as it will help accelerate delivery in this specialist domain.

WHY JOIN THE TEAM

The team integrates Polaris by Fabric Insights and Rally by SDVI, alongside internally developed products including the Fulfilment Service. Applications use TypeScript across the backend and frontend, and Python/Django, with infrastructure hosted in AWS. Close collaboration with other BBCS MSCE teams and third-party technical teams is central to the role.

Your Key Responsibilities And Impact

• Lead development activities ensuring end-to-end delivery of working software to business value.
• Facilitate agile ceremonies (stand-ups, backlog refinements).
• Plan and prioritise team capacity, balancing support, maintenance, security and technical debt with programme commitments and new business features. Make trade-offs and delivery risks clear to stakeholders.
• Build effective relationships with third-party technical teams, coordinating integration changes, investigating faults and following issues through to resolution.
• Collaborate with architects to ensure designs are: well understood by development teams & deliverable iteratively & fit for long-term operational support.
• Champion continuous improvement in processes, tools, and engineering practices.
• Future-proof development processes by introducing modern approaches and leveraging AI tools.
• Ensure observability, scalability, and maintainability across solutions.
• Act as a trusted technical leader, mentoring developers and fostering knowledge sharing.

Essential Criteria

YOUR SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• A hands-on technical leader with a strong background in AWS serverless and cloud-native architectures, passionate about building modern systems that deliver business value quickly.
• Proven experience leading technical teams in a DevOps environment using an Agile methodology.
• Experience managing technical integrations and working directly with third-party technical teams to resolve issues and coordinate changes.
• AWS Serverless expertise: Lambda, Step Functions, SNS/SQS/EventBridge.
• Highly skilled in TypeScript & Python
• Observability, monitoring, logging, and distributed tracing for serverless/microservices.
• Databases experience with at least two of the following: DynamoDB Aurora PostgreSQL MongoDB/DocumentDB (or similar NoSQL solutions Cloud Architecture: AWS Associate level certification or equivalent experience building serverless solutions.

Desired But Not Required

• Knowledge of media processing workflows (transcoding, metadata pipelines).
• Django experience or strong desire to learn.
• Familiarity with Polaris by Fabric Insights (formerly known as TMT) or Rally by SDVI, or comparable media workflow platforms.

If you can bring some of these skills and experience, along with transferable strengths, we’d love to hear from you and encourage you to apply

NEXT STEPS

We appreciate your interest in this position and understand how important this opportunity is to you. Due to the high volume of interest we may need to close the application period earlier than anticipated. This step is necessary to ensure we can provide a high level of attention and service to all applicants. Thank you for your understanding.

#BBCSTUDIOS

Disclaimer

This job description is a written statement of the essential characteristics of the job, with its principal accountabilities, incorporating a note of the skills, knowledge and experience required for a satisfactory level of performance. This is not intended to be a complete, detailed account of all aspects of the duties involved.

Please note: If you were to be offered this role, the BBC will conduct Employment screening checks which include Reference checks; Eligibility to work checks; and if applicable to the role, Safeguarding and Adverse media/Social media checks. Any offer made is conditional on these checks being satisfactory.

Before your start date, you may need to disclose any unspent convictions or police charges, in line with our Recruitment policy. This allows us to discuss any support you may need and assess any risks. Failure to disclose may result in the withdrawal of your offer.

We are unable to accept applications via CV and only applications made online will be considered.

Redeployment

The BBC is committed to redeploying employees seeking suitable alternative employment within the BBC and they will be given priority consideration ahead of other applicants. Priority consideration means for those employees seeking redeployment their application will be considered alongside anyone else at risk of redundancy, prior to any individuals being considered who are not at risk.