Principal Software Engineer - Squad Lead Engineer

RELX; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

RELX is seeking a Technical Lead to balance hands-on software development with leadership through influence, shaping technical direction for a cross-functional squad.

You will collaborate with Product, Architecture, QE, SRE/Platform teams to deliver secure, reliable, and scalable software solutions while upholding standards for code quality, testing, and observability.

The role emphasizes agile practices, design reviews, and ongoing improvement of CI/CD pipelines and release readiness.

Qualifications

• Experience leading through influence across design, delivery and operations.
• Strong track record in distributed services or high-throughput applications.
• Proficiency in Agile/Lean practices and test automation.
• Experience with CI/CD and release readiness.
• Proficiency in multiple languages (Java, JS/TS, .NET, Python, C/C++, SQL).

Responsibilities

• Serve as the first line of technical escalation for the squad’s services/components.
• Facilitate team ceremonies (refinement, technical grooming, sprint planning, design reviews).
• Translate product objectives into sound technical designs and testable acceptance criteria; decompose epics into stories.
• Design and implement complex features; complete bug fixes and performance improvements.
• Define and uphold Definition of Ready/Done including code quality, automated test coverage, security checks, and observability.
• Establish/maintain CI/CD pipelines, quality gates, and release strategies.
• Drive a pragmatic quality strategy: test pyramid balance, contract tests, data management, environments, and non-functional testing.
• Partner with TIO on SLOs, alerting, runbooks, incident response, and post-incident learning

Skills

Leadership by influence

Distributed services

Agile/Lean practices

CI/CD / test automation

Java/JVM

JavaScript/TypeScript

Python

SQL

Tools

CI/CD platforms

Containers

Cloud technologies

Observability

Job description

Are you passionate about leading technical excellence while remaining hands-on in building high-quality software? Do you enjoy influencing teams, shaping engineering practices, and delivering reliable, secure, and observable solutions in a collaborative environment?

About Our Team

Our global team support products education electronic health records that introduce students to digital charting and prepare them to document care in today’s modern clinical environment. We have a very stable product that we’ve worked to get to and strive to maintain. Our team values trust, respect, collaboration, agility, and quality.

About The Role

As a Technical Lead, you will act as the technical facilitator and engineering leader for a cross-functional squad, balancing hands‑on software development with leadership through influence. You will help shape technical direction, guide delivery planning, drive quality strategy, and collaborate closely with Product, Architecture, QE, SRE/Platform teams, and partner squads to deliver secure, reliable, and scalable software solutions.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the first line of technical escalation for the squad’s services/components
• Facilitate team ceremonies (refinement, technical grooming, sprint planning, design reviews) with a focus on flow and outcomes
• Translate product objectives into sound technical designs and testable acceptance criteria; decompose epics into implementable stories
• Design and implement complex features; complete complex bug fixes and performance improvements
• Define and uphold Definition of Ready/Done including code quality, automated test coverage, security checks, and observability
• Establish/maintain CI/CD pipelines, quality gates, and sensible branching/release strategies
• Drive a pragmatic quality strategy: test pyramid balance, contract tests, data management, environments, and non-functional testing
• Partner with TIO on SLOs, alerting, runbooks, incident response, and post-incident learning

Requirements

• Demonstrated experience leading through influence (tech lead, feature lead, guild lead, or similar) across design, delivery, and operations
• Strong track record in at least one domain: distributed services, data platforms, or high-throughput web/mobile applications
• Advanced knowledge of Agile/Lean practices including backlog refinement, technical grooming, and risk-based planning
• Experience with test strategy, test automation, CI/CD quality gates, and release readiness
• Proficiency in one or more of the following: Java/JVM, JavaScript/TypeScript, .NET/C#, Python, C/C++, SQL, Linux, or Windows
• Experience with relational and non-relational data stores, performance tuning, and data modelling
• Knowledge of CI/CD platforms, containers, cloud technologies, observability, and monitoring practices
• Understanding of secure coding, performance optimisation, reliability engineering, and incident response

Work in a Way That Works for You

We promote a healthy work/life balance across the organisation. We offer an appealing working prospect for our people. With numerous wellbeing initiatives, shared parental leave, study assistance, and sabbaticals, we will help you meet your immediate responsibilities and your long-term goals.

Working Pattern

Working flexible hours - flexing the times when you work in the day to help you fit everything in and work when you are the most productive.

About The Business

A global leader in information and analytics, we help researchers and healthcare professionals advance science and improve health outcomes for the benefit of society. Building on our publishing heritage, we combine quality information and vast data sets with analytics to support visionary science and research, health education and interactive learning, as well as exceptional healthcare and clinical practice. At Elsevier, your work contributes to the world's grand challenges and a more sustainable future. We harness innovative technologies to support science and healthcare to partner for a better world.

We know your well-being and happiness are key to a long and successful career. We are delighted to offer country specific benefits. Click here to access benefits specific to your location.