Principal Tech Lead - Squad Leader & Hands-On Architect

Elsevier; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 95,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Elsevier in London is seeking a Principal Software Engineer - Squad Lead to drive technical excellence while staying hands-on in building high-quality software. You will lead a cross-functional squad, shape engineering practices, and ensure secure, reliable, and observable systems across product and platform teams.

Collaborate with Product, Architecture, QE, SRE and partner squads to translate objectives into implementable stories, and drive yearly planning of roadmaps.

Qualifications

• Experience leading technical teams via influence across design and delivery.
• Strong background in distributed services or data platforms.
• Proficiency with Agile/Lean practices including backlog refinement and technical grooming.
• Experience with test strategy, automation, CI/CD quality gates and release readiness.
• Knowledge of one or more: Java/JVM, JavaScript/TypeScript, .NET/C#, Python, C/C++, SQL, Linux or Windows.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the first line of technical escalation for the squad’s services/components.
• Facilitate team ceremonies with a focus on flow and outcomes.
• Translate product objectives into sound technical designs and testable acceptance criteria.
• Design and implement complex features and performance improvements.
• Define and uphold DoR/DoD including code quality, tests, security checks, and observability.
• Establish/maintain CI/CD pipelines, quality gates, and branching/release strategies.
• Drive a pragmatic quality strategy with test pyramids, contract tests, and incident readiness.

Skills

Leadership through influence

Distributed services

Agile/Lean practices

CI/CD & release readiness

Java/JVM

JavaScript/TypeScript

Python

Linux

Security practices

Tools

CI/CD platforms

Docker

Kubernetes

Job description

Elsevier in London is seeking a Principal Software Engineer - Squad Lead to drive technical excellence while staying hands-on in building high-quality software. You will lead a cross-functional squad, shape engineering practices, and ensure secure, reliable, and observable systems across product and platform teams.

Collaborate with Product, Architecture, QE, SRE and partner squads to translate objectives into implementable stories, and drive yearly planning of roadmaps.